Two and a half years ago, PentictonNow wrote extensively about the Okanagan Falls — its evaporating grocery store, its vanishing jobs, its decaying downtown, and those trying to turn the ship around.
You can find these articles here and here and here and here and here.
I told you it was exhausting.
Since then there have been developments – some good, some meh.
Like the grocery store that came along, then fizzled out, then died. Or the other grocery store that moved in where the dearly departed IGA once stood and has since proved to be a keeper. Or the Centex gas station in the middle of the Strip, which has finally reopened after years of question marks.
More recently, a 40-unit townhouse called Lemonade Lane, several blocks from downtown, has broken ground. And later this month, the district board will consider an application for another townhome project — this time 32 units — just across Highway 97 from the new grocery store.
As for the foundation, which many insiders believe is imperative for the community to turn the curve, the wheels chug on.
Matt Taylor, president of the citizen-run Okanagan Falls Community Association and now RDOS Area D director after deposing incumbent Ron Obirek in October, said the next step is a “cost-benefit incorporation study.”
“The regional unit continues to have discussions with the province about the next steps in the overall process that could lead to incorporation into Area D,” he said.
“Province staff are working on the grant funding and related decisions needed to support the next step in this process, a cost-benefit incorporation study that could begin in mid-2023.”
As of now, the L-shaped OK Falls Hwy 97 strip — the area’s business and retail hub, the facade visitors see when they drive through, and the primary concern of the OK Falls Community Association — doesn’t look much different than in 2020 when we rightly called it “suppressed”.
And it will probably stay that way for a while. Real change takes time.
Luckily, the small community on the southern tip of Lake Skaha now has a savior of sorts. His name is Garry Peters and he may be the best news OK Falls has had in a long time.
Back in 2020, weeks before PentictonNow released his series, Peters’ company called “Avery Group” bought a massive 114-acre industrial estate just a few miles southeast of the city.
It was once the home of the powerful Weyerhäuser, who operated a large mill at the time and at times employed 200 people from the region. But Weyerhäuser withdrew in 2007.
In fact, it was Weyerhaeuser’s retirement and the loss of all those jobs that many saw as the beginning of OK Falls’ modern troubles. And now, after a brief fling with an unfulfilled cannabis production facility and nearly a decade of dormancy, the same land was finally under new ownership.
Could it be that this unique property would once again play a key role in the fate of the northern community?
That’s what it looked like. At the time, Peters spoke of a light industrial park and a vertical farming operation. There will definitely be a lot of jobs up there in the future.
A little over two years later, Peters has kept his word.
Forget that. He was better.
This light industrial park? It’s on the right track. The vertical farming operation? It’s called “Avery Family Farms” and will be ready to launch before the summer.
But that’s not all. In November, Avery Group also took steps to plug one of the biggest holes in Okanagan Falls’ seedy downtown scene when it bought the long-closed OK Falls Hotel, which was once home to the area’s most popular pub/restaurant and social hub.
And that’s where we started our tour around Avery last week.
Our guide was Rachelle Peters, Garry’s daughter and Vertical Farm Quality Assurance Manager. She holds degrees in Operations and Quality Management and relocated to OK Falls from the North Okanagan in September 2022 specifically for this position.
Peters took his time to show us around a building that is clearly changing. She also answered our most pressing question: When will these hotel rooms be open to the public?
It turns out they won’t be. Instead, the company will use the rooms (a total of 13 newly renovated rooms, all on the top floor, none seemingly larger than a few hundred square feet, and most with shared washrooms) to house employees from out of town in Avery’s other area of operations — like the vertical farm.
Two of those employees – Erin Wright and partner AJ Cosco – were there the day we toured, staying at the “hotel” and helping out with chores like painting before their jobs on the farm became vacant.
They came from East Vancouver and only arrived in OK Falls three weeks ago. And they seemed excited at the prospect of their new lives. And their new two-minute commute.
“We haven’t been particularly lucky in our careers back home and we’ve always loved the Okanagan,” Wright said, “and this opportunity came up and everyone involved in this project is so energetic. And we’re excited about the sustainability.”
However, neither of them have any particular vertical farming skills, so we asked Peters why Avery didn’t just hire locals instead.
“You’re family,” she said, “and family is important to us. We know them well and we know they work hard. Our goal is that they will eventually be leaders.
“But soon we will be hiring people from OK Falls and the Okanagan. There are 40 positions at Avery Family Farms that we hope to fill with local people.”
We left the second floor and made our way to the hotel’s food and beverage area on the ground floor. And this is where the news for the general public – residents and tourists alike – gets a lot more exciting.
Before the hotel closed in 2018, the venue was the trendiest spot in the area. The closure was another major blow to the community.
But now, refurbished and beautified, it’s set to reopen this spring.
According to Garry Peters, the hotel project pretty much fills two roles, providing a kickstart to a community that needs “a nudge in the arm.”
“Why did we buy it?” he asked, confirming the price of $2.8 million. “It certainly doesn’t meet the return requirements that you normally want. But what it does is wow the community.
“We could probably have housed employees somewhere or bought a couple of condos cheaper. But when you combine that with giving back to the community and taking action, I think that’s one of the most important reasons.”
Peters has been honest about his desire to operate specifically in the southern Okanagan and OK Falls. His mother was born in Penticton and spent a dozen early years in OK Falls. As a teenager, Peters himself spent summers with his aunt and uncle in Naramata.
And for Peters, family is a big thing.
“It’s a big motivation for me,” he said. “My wife Victoria is my partner in this and deserves a lot of credit. All of the staff we employ now are like family and of course there is my daughter Rachelle. It’s a family business.”
And now he’s delighted that news of the reopening of the redesigned food and beverage store is making a splash on social media.
“Avery Family Farms is a tens of millions of dollars investment,” he said. “And the business park is another tens of millions of dollars of investment. But for the relatively small investment we made in the hotel, we have more people commenting on it on Facebook than anything else.
“This is going to be great for the community.”
Leasing and running the venue will be a man familiar to the seasoned residents of OK Falls. And also to the people of Summerland where he owns Giant’s Head Brewing.
His name is Randy Stoltz and it’s not his first round at the hotel. He ran the restaurant/pub for three years in the 2010s before the whole thing closed.
“It’s a bit like Chapter Two,” he said. “And it will be very different from Chapter One.”
“We are bringing a much more modern concept to this facility than before. Gone are the days of the dark and dingy old OK Falls hotel budget deals.”
We checked out the two spaces that make up the venue – a large adult-only basic liquor store on the south end and a smaller, kid-friendly basic food cafe on the north. Stoltz didn’t want many photos as both were in the middle of renovations, but it looked promising.
“The liquor store is gone,” he said. “My plan is to bring back the music bingo that was very successful on Wednesday nights and Mexican Mondays. And we will make some interactive games. There will also be televisions.”
At the opening there will be a total of 100 seats, 40 of them on the terrace. The seemingly ambitious hours will be from 11am to 11pm every single day of the week.
“I did that hours beforehand,” says Stoltz with a smile. “I also changed the license because Sunday breakfast was very popular. So, as a liquor school, I was allowed to serve alcohol at 9 a.m. on Sundays. Caesars were very popular.”
Stoltz said it will start similar to Giant’s Head in Summerland.
“We’re doing a dry run one night with families and friends,” he said. “And then we just open it. There will be no grand opening.”
Judging by the excitement when the venue last promised a reopening in March 2020, “huge” might be just what it is.
Tomorrow in Part II we’ll cover the big stuff – the vertical farm and the 20-lot industrial estate. And we will chat more with the man who makes everything possible.
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