Demolition Day: One of many first Kelowna cinemas to be razed – Okanagan

Monday was demolition day for a real estate development company in Kelowna.

Three large T-Rex Excavating excavators were working extensively on Victor Project’s Water Street property on the northeast corner of Lawrence Avenue.

One excavator bored holes in the outside walls of the old building while another broke into the roof of the building.

The metal bucket teeth and the hydraulic power of one machine made it easier to work on the walls of the cinder block.

While the other quickly ripped through the steel beams and wooden frames that made up the roof structure, it left nothing but a pile of rubble.

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The huge pile of rubble on the demolition was remarkable because what now looks like a war zone was actually one of the first cinemas in Kelowna.

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“The building was originally Mervyn Motors and was converted into a cinema in the mid-1970s,” said Rick Miller of Victor Projects Ltd.

The building at 1551 Water Street housed the Uptown Cinema Center, Kelowna’s first dual-screen cinema.

But the uptown screen went dark in 2000, shortly after the larger and newer Grand 10 theaters opened their doors.

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The building then briefly served as the Oasis of Love Miracle Center, but has now been demolished to make way for “temporary parking in downtown Kelowna. As soon as the building is down we will start working on a redevelopment plan. ”Miller said.

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What exactly could this recovery plan look like?

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“It’s hard to tell at this point, but we have a lot of options,” said Miller.

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Plenty of options as the property is currently classified in Zone C-7, one of the most widely used zones in Kelowna.

However, one of the most likely options could be an apartment building, perhaps one like “Ella,” which is currently under construction two blocks away on Lawrence.

The group’s entire building was demolished on Monday at 4 p.m. and will hopefully be completely cleared by the end of the week.

Space for around 40 public parking spaces in an impark-style parkade.

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All part of the ever-changing face of downtown Kelowna.

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