Land for Sale- downtown Vernon
Willie Ritson-Bennett

7.5 Acres For Sale, Downtown Vernon

Four Head Lines, two editorials and the DEAL for Kin Park lands isn’t completed yet. On the front page of the April 16th edition of the Morning Star It was splashed “GVPRD on track to ink deal for Kin lands”. Three days later the head lines crowed “Kin deal racing towards finish line” and the editorial head line read “Race track deal benefits everyone”.Then a week later Morning Star headlines changed to “Track deal slow out of gate”. In the mid week issue(April 26) bold type declared “Negotiations off the track” while the editorial header suggested “Get community on right track”. The newspaper saga is following the story of one of Canada’s oldest racetracks and negotiations continue.

The press started when the Vernon Agricultural Society and the Greater Veron Parks and Recreation District announced an agreement-in-principle had been reached to purchase the 7.5 that the society owns at the Kin Park Race Track.

The “On Track” story said the price tag for the land was $200,000 with $120,000 paid up front and $20,000 a year for four years. Vernon Mayor Sean Harvey said “there was an opportunity to purchase it at an advantageous price” Harvey also said “Eventually we will probably see the race track disappear and we will see more playing fields. GVPRD chair
Barry Beardswell was aware of the discussions but not the agreement.

Three days later in the “towards finish line” story North Okanagan Regional District director Jack Borden was pleased with the agreement in principle. He said “It’s positive for the community as a whole.” “One of the goals of the agreement is to help Racing Days remain a social and economic force” said Borden, he didn’t comment on the Society’s concerns about the ball diamonds saying it was dealt with in the agreement. Society President Garry Saitz declined comment until an Agricultural Society executive meeting the following day(Thursday). Parks chair Barry Beardswell sounded less enthusiastic wondering where the money would come from.

In the same Morning Star issue as “towards finish line” the editorial “Race track deal benefits everyone” stated the agreement in principle was a good move for the community’s future and would allow the society to continue to operate for five years. The editorial also said “Whether horse racing remains or other uses come into play, everyone wins from an economical and recreational prospective”.

On April 26 “Negotiations off the track” appeared in the Morning Star. The agreement stalled in part because “the GVPRD refuses to relocate the ball fields.” GVPRD chair Beardwells comments were “We have no intention of moving the ball diamonds.” The original contract called for the society to host other equestrian events even if Racing Days don’t continue. The GVPRD wants the agreement considered void if Racing Days lapse. Society President Garry Saitz was quoted “It went to the opposite of the original agreement. GVPRD threw out every thing we negotiated on for a month - the most important parts of the agreement.”

The editorial “Get community on the right track” urged both sides “to get back to the table and hammer out a deal that gets the community up and running.”

The story continues in the political arena as horsemen get ready for the year 2000 race season. There is still positive signs that an agreement will be ratified and beneficial to the community and horse racing. All the details haven’t been made public about the Kin lands deal but the society and GVPRD continue discussions to resolve this important and historic matter. We’ll keep you posted......

Other racing bits - Desert Park in Osoyoos will not conduct horse racing this season. One of it’s weekends, June 18, will be picked up by Kamloops and the following weekend will remain dark. Racing starts in Kamloops on May 21 and will move to Princeton for the July long weekend. Vernon’s Kin Park will host four weekends and the season concludes with a six week stand in Kamloops.

Hasting Park - The Pacific Racing Association hired Paul Heard as the new General Manager Heard has a proven track record as a marketer and it’s expected that he will put people in the stands with customer driven practises. We say congratulations and hope the best for BC Racing.