Kamloops city council is tasking Tourism Kamloops with a one year pilot project to increase commercial activity at Riverside Park that would see things like sports equipment rentals and additional food and beverage services there this summer.

CEO Bev DeSantis says the plan is to make use of the existing concession area in the park that is scheduled for demolition in the coming years. Speaking on NL Newsday, she says that gives an opportunity to use the existing footprint to try and promote further activity within the park.

“This has been a great partnership with the city of Kamloops and specifically parks and recreation,” she said. “We have been working with them on how we can enhance that space on a pilot project and just see without any build or development how we can really energize that space for both our community and for visitors.”

DeSantis says from a tourism perspective, it is looking at the idea of stay-cations as people may be less likely to do any travelling this year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“So this way we could hop down to the park, grab a kayak or a paddle board and hop in our beautiful river and head down and enjoy the day,” she added.

DeSantis says now that council has given the green light to move ahead with the pilot project this summer, things should start ramping up by mid-June.