Economic Development Committee propose improvements to Spirit Square

The City of Merritt’s Economic Development Advisory Committee is proposing a number of changes to the Spirit Square area of downtown.

The committee comprised of Merritt residents along with Councillors Tony Luck and Kurt Christopherson made five recommendations for council to consider.

• Council direct staff to investigate opportunities to acquire land on Quilchena Avenue;
• Council direct staff to investigate options for developing the back alley which links Quilchena Avenue and Spirit Square;
• Council direct staff to implement traffic flow changes to make the downtown core more accessible for walking;
• Council direct staff to create shade in Spirit Square and access to washrooms;
• Council direct staff to complete the coyote statue in Spirit Square.

A number of these recommendations are not new, Council has previously looked at a bathroom for the square, however the hefty price tag kept them from pulling the trigger.

“Spirit Square is nicely designed, but underutilized,” said Christopherson. “We’ve been looking at ways to bring more usage of it and to tie it in to the business centre on Quilchena.”

Council voted unanimously to have staff complete an investigation of the proposals and report back.

CAO Sean Smith noted that the report may come back to Council one at a time due to time constraints of staff.

“We will have these items prepared for budget,” added Smith.