Historic O'keefe Ranch Future More Uncertain Than Ever
October 3 2026 - According to the Historic O’Keefe Ranch & Interior Heritage Society Vernon will not renew its lease. President Douglas MacGregor posted that account on the society’s website, okeeferanch.ca.
The message was a response to what he says the city’s chief administrative officer told the society on October 1: the current council will not extend the agreement past March 31, 2027.
The City of Vernon has not published information regarding an open-meeting record of a vote not to renew the contract we could find.
What that means for the ranch is not known.
MacGregor said that unless a new operating arrangement is made, the society will have to dissolve and the ranch will close that day.
The same statement also says O'keefes future is uncertain and that the ranch may cease operations.
The city has not said whether it will run the site, seek another operator, or close it. That is the answer MacGregor asked for in person during a presentation to council on January 12, and the answer the society says it has been seeking for several years.
Mayor Victor Cumming has said publicly the current lease would be honoured through 2027 and that the society would hear back.
The last regular meeting of this council, on September 28 (voting day is October 17), heard councillors and the Mayor remarking on projects completed and the new Active Living Centre that came in on time and on budget but there was no mention of the O’Keefe Ranch.
It remains to be seen what the public’s reaction will be to this news.
The society’s post landed in a city already paying a 9.73 per cent tax increase for 2026.
Of that, 3.5 points are the Active Living Centre debt, locked in by the 2022 referendum and set to continue through 2027. The rest of the increase includes 2.88 to keep current services, 2.15 to replace weaker investment income, and 1.35 for the RCMP contract.
Historic O'keefe Ranch Future More Uncertain Than Ever
Comments