Construction to start in the summer on redevelopment of Merritt rest stop

Hundreds of travellers continue to stop regularly at the rest area at the junction of the Coquihalla Highway and Okanagan Connector in Merritt.

Only it hasn’t been an official rest stop since it was closed in 2018. The province turned it over to Spayum Holdings LP – a company set up by five Nicola Valley First Nation bands – three years later.

The ground-breaking ceremony for a new development was held last spring but it wasn’t until today, Jan. 9, that a more detailed timeline for construction was announced.

READ MORE: iN VIDEO: Land cleared for new Merritt rest stop but construction months away

“The project is the culmination of three decades of work and reconciliation between the five Nicola Valley First Nations, provincial, federal, and municipal governments, as well as two local companies – Troika and PR Petroleum,” said a news release announcing the completion of a formal agreement between all the parties.

The group plans to apply to the City of Merritt in the spring for the development permit for the first phase of the project with the expectation to start construction in the summer.

To be called Gateway 286, that first phase will be comprised of a 30,000 square foot commercial centre that will include restaurants, convenience retail, gas bar, dog park and “Western Canada’s largest electric vehicle charging station,” the release says.

The City of Merritt is in the process of extending sewer and water to the site.

The land was initially developed as a forest interpretive centre in 1985 and later turned into a tourist information centre operated, first, by the City of Merritt then by Tourism BC.

The commercial centre will cover seven of the site’s 28.7 acres, the rest being available for future development by the First Nations.

“The five bands of Spayum Holdings LP, Upper Nicola, Lower Nicola, Coldwater, Shakan, and Nooaitch, have waited 30 years to realize the return of their traditional lands and the development of those lands into an exceptional commercial development,” Lower Nicola Indian Band Chief Stuart Jackson said in the news release. “Gateway 286 will provide employment and revenue to our 5 communities and in addition this development will provide a vital transportation hub for all the east and west bound traffic on Highway 5A.”

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