The directors of the BCCC would like to extend our sincere sympathy to all area residents affected by the fire, and to all who share in the deep sense of loss--the volunteers who gave so much of themselves to restore the trestles, and those who have traveled (or have wanted to travel) this amazing stretch of country.

The Kettle Valley Railway (KVR), besides being a national treasure, is a magnificent tourism attraction, bringing people to this area from all over the globe. 50,000 tourists come to the Kelowna area annually, generating a $5 million boost each year to the Central Okanagan economy. The dollar value of the loss is estimated at $30 million.

The devastation of the result of innumerable hours of volunteer effort and dollars in restoring these bridges saddens us greatly. Having followed this story day by day along with many others, hearing of the loss trestle by trestle, we have had great interest in the commitments to rebuild.

The Myra Canyon Trestle Restoration Society is the immensely dedicated volunteer group responsible for the initial restoration of the trestles, allowing for the huge success that we know the KVR to be. President Denis Frie told us today that they are committed to seeing the renewal of this incredibly important series of connections on the Kettle Valley Railway. They are already working on establishing an interim detour around the trestle locations to allow travel along the route to continue, but the commitment is to full restoration. Can they be rebuilt? Yes. In a conversation today with the Honourable Rick Thorpe, BC Minister of Competition, Science and Enterprise and MLA for Okanagan-Westside, the BCCC was told that CP has the original plans for the lost trestles and will be making these available for use. As the loads now carried by the trestles are not as large as those for which they were originally built, it is said that finding beams of the original size (nowrare) is not necessary. Rebuilding will, of course, not happen immediately, but a team is already working on the assessment of existing and lost trestles leading up to development of a restoration plan.

Minister Thorpe stated that the provincial government is committed to rebuilding the trestles, and that the goal should be to work with the community, volunteers and other groups to do this using BC wood products and technology. Regarding the controversy over spending money on infrastructure such as this when people have lost their homes, he went on to say that the restoration is an important goal and that this is not an issue of creating conflict over trestles vs. people--we can look after both.

Heritage Minister Sheila Copps has stated the federal government's intention to rebuild. The federal government will cover the assessment costs, and Copps suggested that the cost of rebuilding may be equally shared between Ottawa, Victoria and local governments. Copps has said that the federal government will team up with other groups to rebuild the structures "to their former historic status."

We strongly support the initiative by all groups--volunteers, government and business--to rebuild these magnificent structures, as a step in restoring this region so tragically hit by loss. The original trestles are gone, and that is a terrible reality to bear. However, the trestles' transportation and recreational opportunities, the pride and pleasure they engender and the significant levels of employment they support is something that must, and will, be restored.

Donations toward the rebuilding may be sent to:
Myra Canyon Trestle Restoration Society
PBC Box 611
Kelowna, BC
V1Y 7P2

Tax receipts will be issued on request for donations of $10 or more.