The B.C. visitor centre in Merritt has been closed since January, however travellers aren’t putting the opportunity to stop by to waste.
Destination British Columbia reported the centre had become a glorified bathroom over the years, with visitor information requests dwindling. Not much has changed since they’ve vacated, however, and continual “pit stop” usage has led to excess litter and frustrated residents.
Local mountain biker and walker Rob MacLaren enjoys the trail system connected to the vacant visitor centre, and is frustrated with the amount of garbage left behind by travellers.
“Basically people just want to use the woods around there — because they’ve done that for so long — as their personal toilet,” he said. “Not only between the two highways, but into the woods in and around the visitor centre. It’s just horrible,” he said.
He explained he doesn’t think the site has been effectively dealt with since Destination British Columbia left the building.
“I really don’t know where to go,” he said.
McLaren’s sentiment was echoed by Tracy Coombes, who told the Herald she’s witnessed littering in the area for years but because the building is now vacant, the situation has escalated.
“I walk the dogs here year-round, and even when the centre was open people would still be littering and using it as a bathroom in the trees,” she said. Now that the centre’s closed, there’s a steady flow of people coming off the highway, seeing that the gate is closed, going to the bathroom, leaving their garbage and carrying on,” she said.
“It’s disgusting. There’s just mounds of toilet paper everywhere, there’s diapers, there’s every kind of garbage you can imagine,” she added.
Coombes explained she’s reached out to various agencies in her efforts to have the site taken care of, including Thompson Nicola Regional District, the B.C. Ministry of Transportation and city by-law officers. Nevertheless, she reported nobody has rolled up their sleeves so far.
“It’s been a couple weeks, and nobody’s cleaned up any garbage,” she said.
Destination B.C. was the last tenant on the property, visitor services manager Kathleen Harvey explained.
“Both the building and the land are owned by the provincial government. The land is owned by the Ministry of Forestry, Lands and Natural Resources and the building is owned by the Ministry of Citizen Services. Destination B.C. was a tenant in the building,” she said.
Harvey explained the location had very much become a convenient washroom stop during their tenancy, but staff were employed to keep the site tidy.
“We paid for the operations and maintenance of the site when we were there,” she explained.
She told the Herald she’s disappointed to hear about the trouble.
“It’s unfortunate because we put a very large sign up outside of the gate that details where the nearest restrooms are,” she said. “We’re trying to encourage people to just take a very short drive off the freeway and go into town where you guys have public washrooms. You also have lots of businesses with washrooms — maybe there could be an economic benefit or spinoff from this to Merritt,” she said.
Noting the Ministry of Transportation is responsible for providing rest areas in B.C., she highlighted the fact that the ministry has built a new rest stop on highway 97C’s Loon Lake exit — equipped with wi-fi, lighting, and 24/7 accessibility.
Mayor Neil Menard said he’s in the process of investigating the old visitor centre as well as another pullout on highway 5A subject to a similar issue.
He explained responsibility for the site does not rest on the city’s shoulders, but that’s not stopping him from getting involved.
“It’s out of our of our jurisdiction, but that doesn’t mean we’re not going to look at it and try to do something about it,” he said, noting he may reach out to VSA Highway Maintenance.
The Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development generally identifies and prioritizes the clean-up of illegal dumping on Crown land, and confirmed they are aware of the concerns and looking at available options to manage the site.
Moving forward, the B.C. government is utilizing their rural dividend program to support new beginnings for the property.
They’ve awarded Spayum Developments Ltd. with $79,350 to create a master development plan for developing the Gateway 286 lands in Merritt near the current location of the visitor’s centre.
“The master plan will include technical site assessments, a conceptual land-use plan and detailed servicing plans,” their press release reads.
In the meantime, government officials noted depositing of waste or household garbage on Crown land is an offence under provincial law and may contravene local bylaws. Anyone who discovers an illegal dump site or witnesses illegal dumping can call the report all poachers and polluters (RAPP) hotline at 1 877 952-7277.
