By James Peters

Soft support for Riverside Park location not a disappointment for Kamloops public market group

Jan 17, 2019 | 10:24 AM

KAMLOOPS — The executive director of the Kamloops Public Market Co-operative (KPM Co-op) says results of a survey on the idea illustrate the two distinct approaches to new proposals in Kamloops.

The results showed 368 respondents, or about 44 per cent, were not in favour of a Riverside Park location for an indoor public market.

Daphane Nelson says 375 people were a definite ‘yes’ on the location, slightly more than the ‘no’ side.

But of the 84 undecided, Nelson says she feels many were leaning toward ‘yes’.

“The reason that a lot of people are undecided is because they didn’t understand the project fully,” said Nelson. “There were undecideds who would support it if the parking situation was taken care of, would support it as long as it didn’t impact Heritage House, would support it if it didn’t impact traffic too much.”

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Of those surveyed, more than 500 responded favourably to the ideas of patronizing local artisans and food vendors at an indoor market.

Nelson says the favourability of the project skewed younger, and she says that confirms to her that there are two distinct mindsets when it comes to new project ideas for the city: younger people who love experiencing new community events and amenities, and older folks who like the city to remain the same.

She believes it is the older crowd who typically speak the loudest, including getting out to the polls to have their voices heard come election time.

“I think that if we were to do that same survey for a lot of the projects that are going out there, I think that our sense of this project particularly but even others that are going on, I would suspect it would probably be about the same,” said Nelson.

The soft support for the Riverside Park location is not deterring KPM Co-op, as Nelson says it will continue on even if Riverside Park is ultimately not the best place.

“We’ve said this before, the Kamloops Public Market Co-operative is a stand alone entity from location,” said Nelson. “We exist now without a location and what we want to do is make sure that the idea, the concept doesn’t die because the location isn’t acceptable.”

“It’s a project conceived from the heart. We’re not trying to jam anything down anyone’s throat.”

Nelson says KPM Co-op hopes to have a delegation before Kamloops council in the coming weeks to discuss next steps.