The pier on Okanagan Lake has reached the end of its lifespan and will be replaced to half its current length later this year. The City is inviting members of the community, businesses and private organizations to contribute to extending the length of the rebuild, up to the structure’s original length.
Due to rising costs of materials, supplies and labour, the cost of replacing the pier ‘like for like’ was estimated to be approximately $1.8 million. The City is currently experiencing significant cost escalation on many City projects, and Staff brought forward the option of replacing only a portion of the pier in order to ensure funding was available for other priorities. During budget deliberations last year, Council approved replacing half the length of the existing pier, as well as minor works making the structure more resilient to high water levels and to address accessibility concerns in the surrounding area, at a construction cost of $800,000. As part of this decision, Council also supported that the length of the pier could potentially be extended through funding from community contributions.
“Recognizing the pier as an important part of Penticton’s waterfront landscape, the structure will be replaced to half length,” said Scott Boyko, manager of public works for the City. “We are open to conversations from interested parties about larger contributions to rebuild the pier up to its original length and what recognition for those contributions could look like.”
Members of the community, businesses and private organizations interested in providing a financial contribution to support extending the structure’s rebuild are encouraged to make a donation or contact the City. Depending on the amount of funding received, the pier could be rebuilt up to its current length. Due to environmental permitting, the pier may only be replaced up to its original footprint of 68 metres (224 ft). Due to the spacing of the required pilings, the pier would need to be extended in 5 meter sections, with combined donations needing to equal $55,000 for each individual 5m section, and a total donation amount of $385,000 to complete the full extension of the pier. If donation amounts fall below what is needed to allow for an additional section to be extended, the donations received will be utilized on the surrounding improvements.
All contributions will be administered by the Community Foundation and can be made at https://www.cfso.net/funds/penticton-pier-fund. Questions about this project can be directed to Scott Boyko, manager of public works for the City, at scott.boyko@penticton.ca or visit www.penticton.ca/pier-replacement
The deadline for contributions is Friday, March 7, 2025.