Despite a stormy curveball thrown at us by Mother Nature, ODS President Lee McFadyen and MLA Roly Russell cut the ribbon on our new boardwalk on April 21, 2022! The Osoyoos Desert Centre’s new boardwalk is many things to many people: A dream come true, an enormous weight off shoulders, a gargantuan undertaking, an exciting next chapter - but most of all, it’s an homage to our founders.
Over 30 years ago, a handful of enlightened people recognized the importance of this natural resource, this habitat that is essential to a vibrant and viable ecosystem for all who live here. They saw that it was disappearing fast and decided to do something about it. They acquired this land, and with a volunteer workforce built a 1.5 km wooden boardwalk so people could explore this extraordinary environment up close without harming it. They wanted people to immerse themselves in it, connect with it and understand why it’s so important to protect it for future generations. Over the years, our boardwalk has become the signature feature of the Osoyoos Desert Centre experience and it’s an honour and a privilege to carry forward that legacy. Thank you to everyone that contributed to this milestone project - the Province of BC, the ODS building committee (Peter Beckett, Roger Horton and Trevor Reeves), C3 Industries, Larry Stone, James Friedt, all our dedicated volunteers and the entire ODS board of directors and staff. Opening day for our new boardwalk was April 23, 2022.
Boardwalk by the Numbers
101,986 feet of new composite decking
42,118 feet of 2 x 8 joists
7,200 joist hangers
46,000 deck clips
51,500 screws
119,700 nails
11 helicopter fly days
616 sections of old boardwalk flown out
603 sections of old boardwalk repurposed
8 bins of debris taken to the landfill
For a job well-done, six months of braving all sorts of weather and their unwavering commitment to outstanding workmanship, ODC was pleased to present C3 owners Martin and Trish Hahn and the entire C3 crew - Marco Agostinho, Lane Busby, Bruce Dibbs, Trevor Kaminski, Garret Mardian, Ethan McMullen, Callahan New, Richard O’Neil, Travis Shendaruk, Kobe Snow and Gabe Wood - with Certificates of Appreciation. Thanks to the incredible support of local homeowners, farmers, ranchers, businesses, conservation groups and the tireless efforts of our Desert Centre Manager Leor Oren, 98% of the old boardwalk stayed out of the landfill and is being repurposed.
Osoyoos Desert Centre gratefully acknowledges the Province of British Columbia for its financial support of our new boardwalk.
Photo credit: Don Urquhart, Time Chronicle