Four season luxury Nordic spa proposed for Vernon hilltop

An Alberta developer is pushing ahead with a plan to build a luxury Nordic spa adjacent to Vernon's The Rise restaurant.

Featuring multiple outdoor hot and cold pools, saunas, treatment rooms and a halotherapy salt cave, The Rise Nordic Spa is proposed for a car-free site next to The Rise restaurant.

Last month, Vernon council gave its support in principle, and now the company behind The Rise restaurant, Rencor Investments, needs to apply to have the land rezoned.

"The Nordic Spa will be positioned as a year-round outdoor wellness experience combining the grounding and healing benefits of being in nature with the clinically proven benefits of contrast therapy using hydro and thermal elements," a report submitted to the City of Vernon says.

The report states the 10-acre site would see about two acres developed with boardwalks and paths connecting several zones in the spa. The spa would only be accessible by foot or electric cart with guests parking at the Rise parking lot and electric carts taking them to the spa area.

The brochure paints the picture of an expansive high-class spa featuring four pools some with waterfalls and bucket showers, and two plunge pools. The Nordic spa would also include four steam rooms and four saunas as well as a "halotherapy cave."

Located throughout the site would be cold bucket showers, ice fountains, a mediation and grounding path circuit, as well as a salt scrub station, a glacier mud cabin, a snow cave and a grounding cave.

There would be indoor and outdoor resting areas and 10 treatment rooms, along with a cafe with seating for 50 people.

The site plan includes 350 lockers, giving an impression of what the maximum capacity would be.

The report says the architectural design would fit seamlessly with the landscape, "using natural materials and sloping roofs to create an embedded, non-intrusive appearance."

The company has used MacInnis Spa Consulting which has been behind the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge, Fairmont Banff Springs and numerous other spas across Canada.

The proposal is still in the planning stage and will likely be discussed at councils next meeting.

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