Merritt stands to get a little more country as the Sagebrush Agri Park Society wants to establish a horse racing track and an equine learning centre in the Nicola Valley.
Society president Malcolm Lynn was at city council’s regular meeting Tuesday (Sept. 15) asking to use the property along Lindley Creek Road, across the street from the rodeo grounds, to build a $10 million horse racing facility.
Lynn says the society plans to fund this initiative from provincial and federal grants.
The reason he wants to build this track here is because Merritt is horse country.
“The federal government says, according to [Statistics Canada], that there’s 90,000 horses within a 100 mile radius of Merritt,” he told council.
The land Lynn intends to use for the track consists of both City of Merritt and Thompson-Nicola Regional District land as well as some private land.
The facility would incorporate various types of horse racing from quarter horse to chariot and chuck wagon racing.
He also wants to partner with a local business to establish an off-track betting teletheatre in an existing business.
The teletheatre could be relocated to the track’s grand stand if it comes to fruition, Lynn said.
He told council the ideal horse track would be a three-quarter mile, and the time frame the society has for constructing this facility is two years.
“I think that if we can do this, and we can get all the money that you’re talking about from the province and the feds, I’m sure that our council will be more than happy to work with you,” Merritt Mayor Neil Menard told Lynn.
Lynn also said he’s been in talks with the TNRD and NVIT regarding turning the old Upper Nicola Band school into an equine learning centre to teach youth how to care for and train horses.
At the moment he’s hoping to speak with School District 58 about leasing the property.
This learning centre could consist of a blacksmith school, veterinary school and even a equine swimming pool, he said. Lynn said renovating and expanding the school would cost between $500,000 and $1 million, and would be funded through government grants.