Patient care tower, pipeline top priorities for mayoral candidate Ken Christian

Aug 19, 2017 | 10:09 AM

KAMLOOPS — Mayoral candidate Ken Christian says the Royal Inland Hospital Patient Care Tower would be a top priority if elected September 30th.

The B.C. Liberals announced it had approved funding for the second phase in the Royal Inland Hospital redevelopment plan, the patient care tower, to the tune of $417 million earlier this year.

The tower will be nine storeys tall and will include three floors of inpatient beds.

Construction is set to begin in 2018 and will finish in 2022.

“It’s the single largest construction project in the history of Kamloops,” said Christian. “We need to see that delivered on time and on budget.”

Christian says he supports the Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion adding the increased jobs and taxation revenue would also be a benefit for the city.

Christian has been a city councillor six years and served on the Kamloops-Thompson School Board for 18 years.

It’s experience he hopes voters will consider come the byelection.

“While there are a lot of people that discount it, I think that experience pays a lot of dividends for the voters and tax payers in Kamloops and I hope they would see it that way as well.”