A new historic Bill Miner sign was unveiled at the B.C. Wildlife Park on Monday (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By Chad Klassen

POINT OF INTEREST

Newly-refurbished Bill Miner sign hopes to attract more people to B.C. Wildlife Park

Aug 26, 2019 | 9:26 AM

KAMLOOPS — Visitors to the B.C. Wildlife Park have been aplenty this summer. Most days have been packed with locals and tourists alike checking out attractions like Knute the grizzly bear. The strong attendance has the park on record pace once again.

“We’ve seen an awful lot of tourists coming in from Australia, from China, from the West Coast of the United States — Washington State and Oregon,” said general manager of the B.C. Wildlife Park Glenn Grant.

The park is about 5,000 visitors above its projections and could break last year’s record.

“If the numbers project the same as what they’re trending right now, we’ll surpass the 105,000 record that we set last year’s. The past four years have been really trending upwards,” noted Grant.

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Adding to the park’s attraction is a new Bill Miner sign commemorating his infamous train robbery in the area in the early 1900s. It’s a sign that was once at the wildlife park until the mid-1990s, but it’s been revived by the province.

The ‘Great Train Robbery’ sign outlines the infamous Bill Miner train robbery in the Kamloops area in the early 1900s (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

The sign was unveiled on Monday by former Transportation Minister Todd Stone, who helped start the process of bringing back these Stop of Interest signs.

“The Stop of Interest program had largely fallen into disrepair,” he said. “Many of the signs had fallen over or were leaning heavily or really faded on the front. We said in the ministry to refresh the Stop of Interest sign program.”

Stone says it helps people understand more about the province’s history. For the wildlife park, the hope is the new sign will be yet another reason to stop in.

“With our miniature train, the Wildlife Express, here at the park and having a train theme with the Great Train Robbery, I think is a great tie-in,” said Grant. “When you see these Point of Interest signs driving around the province, it does peak your interest to pull over and read and learn a little bit. I think it’s going to be great for tourism as a whole.”