DOWNTOWN: SAFE OR SCARY?

Downtown Kelowna can be a scary place for older folks, as young, pierced
people on vacation take over the streets and parks.

As the occasional odour of marijuana wafts in the breeze and a bicycle cop
dumps some confiscated alcohol, seniors still enjoy a stroll through City Park.

In daylight, the crowds mean safety. At night, it can be more intimidating
to walk the streets.

"It's pretty fun downtown," says 17-year-old Drew Vidrisaire from Calgary
as he walks along the waterfront carrying his skateboard.

"We come here for two weeks every summer. It's a good atmosphere, relaxed,
not threatening, not out of control. It's amazing to meet people of all
kinds from 18 to 24 years of age."

Marijuana is freely available but "you kind of expect it."

"Some people are obviously drunk. They're loud, but they're not causing a
public disturbance, not vandalizing or picking fights," said Vidrisaire.

Sixteen-year-olds Jenni Bryde and Rachel Hynes, who both live in Kelowna,
agree the downtown has "a nice atmosphere" and it's fun to just hang around.

"It's fun watching other people. We like to walk; we have a route," said Hynes.

They stay downtown until midnight or 1 a.m. when there are crowds of people
getting out of movie theatres, going to restaurants and night clubs.

"They're feeling good and having a good time, totally," she said.

Yet 40-year-old Don McDonald gets the jitters when he approaches the foot
of Bernard Avenue.

"I don't feel safe coming down to this part of town by myself," he says.

"Three weeks ago, a guy was reading a book and got mugged. Five guys just
beat on him."

On the other hand, 25-year-old Marla Renn says she has never had a problem
while selling her hand-made necklaces on the City Park walkway for the past
two years.

People consuming alcohol and drugs downtown are an ongoing issue, says
Const. Tanya Pineo, who cruises downtown with the RCMP bike patrol.

"There's quite a bit of drug trafficking, noise and fights, minors hanging
around Leon Avenue. Chapman Parkade is always full of surprises," she said.

"It's a real eye-opener how many drugs and how much liquor we seize."

Those with liquor have it poured on the ground immediately and receive a
$115 ticket. Under a zero-tolerance policy, those with illegal drugs are
taken to the RCMP office for a notice to appear in provincial court.

"Our bicycle patrol has certainly been effective. A lot of people,
tourists, comment on it, but I feel there's not enough members doing it."

Retailers see the sometimes rough-and-tumble scene year-round, especially
on Saturday nights.

During holiday weekends, Doran Amatto at Tanglewood Rustic Log Furniture
stays overnight in his shop at the corner of Ellis and Doyle.

"It's an animal show, fights, drag racing, people hanging off the trees,
puke around the block, pizza boxes and garbage everywhere, a flurry of
graffiti."

One night, three young men in their late teens loaded up a shopping cart
with his hand-made furniture and video-taped it crashing into the pavement
after it was thrown from the top of the nearby parking garage.

"I get guys in here at 3 a.m. trying to sell me stuff (stolen) so they can
buy a beer or drugs. It's amazing. People don't know it's the police
station right over there."

Rod Reinbold, owner of x.10.sion 270 at the corner of Bernard and Abbott,
has learned to live with the challenges.

"Slugs, derelicts, families. Everything's going by this window," Reinbold said.

Drugs used to be a problem in Kerry Park, but it has become much more
family-oriented since a pay phone was removed.

"Now, they go around the corner to Abbott and Lawrence where there's a
phone and they do it (hard drugs) in the park. It's a sad, sad state of
affairs."

He's seen more marijuana on Robson Street in Vancouver than in downtown
Kelowna. But he sees the results of hard drug use on downtown Kelowna's
streets.

"They try to steal stuff and sell it to buy a fix. It's the same people
prowling every morning, every afternoon. We have surveillance cameras and
don't lose a lot."

He felt sad this week when he found two people sleeping in a corner of the
parking lot behind Earl's.

Occasionally, he finds panhandlers camped out on the sidewalk in front of
his store.

"I bribe them with a couple of the protein bars we sell, move them into the
park. You've got to treat everyone like a human being."