People in Kamloops will be going back to the polls next year for a referendum on a performing arts centre.
City council has voted unanimously to support the proposed $70-million-dollar facility downtown, and to have staff initiate a referendum.
A date for the vote has not been set but it’s expected at this point to happen in March. The question also has not been set, but it will in essence ask taxpayers to borrow up to $45 million dollars over 25 years to contribute to the performing arts centre.
Councillor Mike O’Reilly says a referendum is the right option for the proposed facility. The city could’ve also chosen to proceed with an alternate approval process, which would’ve meant that at least 10 per cent of electors in Kamloops would’ve had to vote against the plan for it to be defeated.
“I don’t think this is just a performing arts centre that we put down somewhere, this is the right project in the right place. And I look forward to the voters making that decision, but it is the best decision hopefully for the City of Kamloops. And people will have a vote, but we need to make that those votes are informed, and that’s key,” O’Reilly says.
“It’s something that we’re all seeing from an economic development point of view, we’re seeing the jobs it’s going to bring to Kamloops,” councillor Kathy Sinclair says, citing the lengthy business case which says the project would lead to 565 full-time equivalent jobs per year during construction and 31 FTE jobs during operation. “We’re seeing the opportunity, and again, we’re seeing right place, right project, right timing.”
The alternate approval process would’ve costed around $10,000 according to city staff, which would’ve only involved advertising to submit opposition by a given deadline. The referendum will cost about $120,000, but is “really like running an election,” according to finance director Kathy Humphrey. “So we need to staff it with people and polling stations, and rent facilities and all of that. So we need a question, we need to print the ballots, there’s renting ballot machines. All of that entire process that you would see in an election.”
Meanwhile, a former city councillor who led “PAC Not Yet” and opposed the performing arts centre in 2015 says her group supports the plan at this point.
Nelly Dever says her groups has some concerns about funding, but agreed with council that the proposal is different this time around.
“The main reason for our group the first time around was it was a taxation issue. It was presented as, it was going to be held by the taxpayers from beginning to end, and there was no private-public partnership. There was no responsibility put on to any of the fundraising groups. This time around there’s a much better balance.”
The Kamloops Centre for the Arts Society will now start to formulate a strategy for fundraising for the performing arts centre.
The society says there are investors and donors ready to contribute, and board member Kathy Humphreys thinks the referendum for the centre will be successful this time around.
“This community has changed in the last four years. The attitude of everyone we’ve been speaking to has been so positive. I think people are starting to understand the need for the facility, what kinds of great impacts it will mean for our community.”
The society is looking to fundraise at least $22 million dollars for the centre.
