City council supports the efforts of Rotarians to light up the pathway around McGuire Lake, but had little appetite for a sign celebrating donors to the project.
For about a year now the Salmon Arm Daybreak Rotary Club has been fundraising for its Light the Lake initiative, which would see lighting placed along the pathway circling the downtown park lake. The city committed $50,000 towards the project in its 2023 budget.
At its April 22, 2024 meeting, council received a letter from the club’s Light the Lake chair Rich Smith, asking for support of an initiative to drum up support for the project. He explained that to date, the club has raised $125,000 and that an additional $50,000 is needed to bring the $202,800 project to fruition.
“To help bridge this funding gap, we would like to seek Council’s permission to construct a visually appealing precast concrete sign to be placed at the 6th Street NE entrance of the McGuire Lake Park,” wrote Smith. “On this sign we would affix plaques to recognize the businesses and individuals who have donated to this cause.”
A motion was tabled to have city staff work with the club to develop a mock up of what the installation would look like.
Speaking to the motion, Coun. Kevin Flynn said he was in favour, but noted the city has been “fairly strict” on plaques and other signage at the park recognizing individuals.
Coun. Debbie Cannon suggested the sign as proposed would “dilute” the recognition owed to Rotary for the project.
Coun. Tim Lavery was apprehensive about the proposal, noting he would have a high threshold for the sign’s design, while Coun. Louise Wallace Richmond said she was “philosophically… opposed to corporate branding in public parks.”
Coun. Sylvia Lindgren questioned the dollar value that would earn recognition on the sign.
“There will be dozens if not hundreds of people who donate $10 or $20, and I don’t know that we could have a sign that would possibly incorporate all of that and I don’t think I would be in favour of having a sign that only recognized people that could give more,” said Lindgren. “The whole thing feels a bit like selling our park. I don’t know if I could support any of this actually.”
When it came to a vote, the motion was defeated with Cannon, Wallace Richmond and Lindgren opposed.
Read more: Rotary club in Salmon Arm gets behind plan to light walkways at McGuire Lake
Read more: City, Daybreak Rotary to shine light on Salmon Arm’s McGuire Lake pathway