Westbank cemetery to see new life under expansion plan

WEST KELOWNA – The District of West Kelowna is considering spending $694,000 on the expansion of the Westbank Cemetery.

In a report to council, parks supervisor Stacey Harding is recommending the district award the expansion contract to Arterra Construction, the low bidder on the plan to expand the graveyard which opened in 1925.

Harding says two prior improvement projects – the installation of granite columbaria, mausoleums and landscaping improvements – have piqued interest in the cemetery, doubling sales of burial plots and cremation niches since 2013.

The cemetery on Elliot Road, home to the graves of many Westbank pioneers, was approaching capacity before the earlier improvement projects. Now supply is estimated to last the next 13 years after the addition of 212 above ground interment plots.

Council has already approved the expenditure of $770,000 in its 2015 capital plan. Consultant Lees & Associates, who have also done work on the Kelowna Memorial Park Cemetery, designed the expansion plan, which incorporates alternative interment options with a range of prices.

The report recommended council finance the expansion from general operating reserves, with repayment from annual cemetery revenues after operating costs have been recouped.

West Kelowna council will consider the request at its public meeting on Tuesday, May 26.

To contact the reporter for this story, email John McDonald at jmcdonald@infonews.ca or call 250-808-0143. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.