Kamloops City Council is planning for the next decade when it comes to recreation, arts and culture in the city.

A consultant presented Kamloops City Council with a proposed 10 year Recreation Master Plan that looks at a number of facilities including pools and ice rinks.

Mayor Ken Christian says it is being recommended that council consider approving an additional three or four sheets of ice in the tournament capital.

“Then the fact that we used to have ice on the Tk’emlups te Secwepemc reserve and that’s no longer available. So, the consultant suggested that we would look at additional ice, but he was also quite clear that you should really try to bundle these things up.” He adds “it’s always an issue of who gets the best [ice] times.”

Christian does say though that a new ice rink is not on the immediate horizon.

It’s also being recommended that the city consider opening an additional indoor pool.

“The sport is really growing in terms of competitive swimming. The piece that we are missing here is diving and whether or not we look at a diving tanks to handle that need in the community” said Christian.

A new Arts Centre is also mentioned in the document. Christian says it is something many in the community have been asking for.

“It is definitely on council’s radar and will be discussed more in the near future. Going forward, we anticipate before the end of the year to have before council a business case that will really start to talk about the dollars and what this facility would have and what it wouldn’t have and that then would give us the basis upon which we could take the matter to a referendum.”

The public will have a chance to have their say on the plan as it stands and make recommendations. There will be two open house sessions.

Those are set for October 2 starting at 7:00 pm at the Sports Centre Lounge located at 1665 Island Parkway and October 3, starting at 7:00 pm at Heritage House located at 100 Lorne Street.