The municipality of Summerland has received authorization to work on the pier on Okanagan Lake.
Graham Statt, chief administrative officer for Summerland, announced the authorization during the Summerland council meeting on Feb. 27.
In September, 2023, the pier at Rotary Beach was dismantled after an engineering report had deemed the structure was unsafe.
Many of the pilings supporting the structure were rotting at the time.
Provincial permission was needed in order to put in new piles for the pier.
READ ALSO: Summerland could be getting a new pier by July 2024
READ ALSO: Wharf has been part of Summerland’s history
Statt added that the municipality has also closed a request for quotations in late February and since that time has received some quotes that came in within the municipality”s budget.
“Our environmental window for mussels closes March 26 but we are feeling good about getting the piles in at this rate before that window closes, which will allow us to then put together the basic pier before the height of summer,” Statt said in a report to council.
The target date for reopening the pier is July 1.
Summerland council had earlier earmarked $797,400 for a basic replacement of the pier coming from the $4.533 million provincial Growing Communities Fund.
The Summerland Rotary Club is doing some fundraising for special features of the pier, but those can be added on after the basic design is completed.
The former pier on that site, funded by the Summerland Kiwanis Club and Summerland Rotary Club, with the help of private donations, had been opened July 1, 1999.
Earlier, the Canadian Pacific Railway had constructed a wharf at the same site in 1910. That wharf had been an important transportation link for the community.