New applications for the Revelstoke Adventure Park are expected to be filed within the month, the proponent told council last week.
Jason Roe appeared in front of council last Tuesday, June 23, to provide an update on the proposed tourism destination, and get a vote of support for the project.
The bold plans call for lift-accessed mountain biking, bungee jumping, a zip line course, a mountain roller coaster, and an artificial lake with a mechanical surfing wave, all in the Greeley area about 10 kilometres east of Revelstoke.
"RAP offers recreational activities spanning all skill levels, and there are several attractions planned that have never been seen before in BC," states a project summary presented to council. "This unique slate of activities all in one location combined with incredibly easy access on a major national thoroughfare makes RAP a singular offering within Canada."
The project has been in the planning phase for several years now. The proponents, Illecillewaet Land Development Partnership, which include Roe's Black Tie Properties and Revelstoke Mountain Resort, first filed an application with the province in January 2013, only to have it rejected in July of that year.
Since then, they have been working hard to address concerns raised by the province and fine tune the concept.
"We feel we’ve worked hard over the last two years and spent a lot of money on studies. We think we’ve mitigated all the reasons, even the ones that weren't required," Roe said.
The project summary lists a number of studies and applications either completed or in progress. They include a wildlife assessment, wildfire study, terrain stability assessment, watershed assessment, traffic study, an Agricultural Land Commission non-farm use permit and a geotechnical report.
“We feel we've gone over and above what was required," said Roe. "We wanted to show the province when we got this application that they’d see that we've taken even bigger steps to providing a professional, thought out application that dealt with not just things they brought up, but other things that we did that are requirements once approved, but we did before."
The development area has been modified to move it away from the City of Revelstoke's Greeley watershed, said Roe. Protection of the watershed was cited as a concern in the rejection.
“The intensive use area is over two kilometres from the watershed boundary,” said Roe. “We made sure we clearly defined there is no watershed issue.”
The adventure park, if approved, will be built on a mix of 257 hectares of public land and 100 hectares of private land. Part of the tenure would overlap with RMR's commercial recreation area.
Roe said they plan on filing two applications this month to move the project forward. The first is with the province for tenure over Crown land. The second application is with the Columbia Shuswap Regional District for re-zoning the property.
Roe said that if all goes well, they hope to have a soft launch in the fall of 2016, with a full opening in 2017.
The plan is to build the adventure park in four phases. Phase one would involve design and construction. Phase two would see construction of a temporary base building with retail and restaurant facilities, an RV park and campground, a multi-use trail, pump track, aerial ropes course, two ziplines, downhill mountain bike trails and a bungee jump.
Phase three includes construction of a permanent base building built, a gondola or chairlift, more biking and hiking trails, the mountain roller coaster, a driving range and development of the bungee centre with a restaurant and viewing platform on a ridge with views towards Revelstoke.
Phase four would include the artificial lake, a second chairlift, more ziplines, horseback riding trails, a mountain lodge and a rock climbing area.
An area dubbed Greeley Meadows will be set aside for hosting large events and the proposed 1,200 acre lake.
"We have plans for the lake and the first of its kind electric hydraulic driven wave pool," said Roe. "It’s like surfing in an actual wave in the ocean, but it’s mechanically driven.”
Roe said the adventure park would employ more than 200 people, not including construction.
Council was generally supportive of the project. "I’m excited about it," said Connie Brothers. "I’m hopeful it can do some good things for Revelstoke.”