The Mayor of Kamloops wants the Kamloops Centre for the Arts proposal to be on the ballot during the 2022 municipal elections in October.

Ken Christian tells NL News that move will save the city the roughly $100,000 it would cost if the referendum was to be held at another time.

“The arts community is really the ones that will pull the trigger on that and bring that to council and then myself and council would make that determination,” Christian told NL News.

Kamloopsians were set to decide the fate of the Kamloops Centre for the Arts on Apr. 4, 2020, though that was scrapped at the eleventh hour because of the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic in Mar. 2020.

Christian also noted that he feels the City should support the arts community by giving them a venue that is equal to the Tournament Capital Centre or the McArthur Island sports centre.

“The arts sector have been hurt more prominently than other sectors during this pandemic,” he said. “And I think it is incumbent on government to bail out some of those organizations that have really put their lifeblood into Kamloops.”

In a statement online, KCA Society Board Chair, Norm Daley, said the project will be back when the time is right.

“In the meantime, we plan to work closely with the City and our partners in the arts and culture sector to help them get back on their feet,” he said. “If you are in a financial position to support a local charity, please consider donating to your favourite arts organization during this challenging time.”

“Given the level of community engagement realized with this project, we don’t want to lose the momentum that was built. We hope we can still connect with you to discuss the future of the project and confirm the role the Society can play during this period of recovery for the local arts community.”

City staff set to liase with the Kamloops Centre for the Arts Society this year but it is not yet clear when the project will be be back up for discussion. City of Kamloops spokesperson Wendy Heshka told NL News the ballot for the 2022 election has not yet been created.

In Nov. 2020, a report to City Council showed that the revived Kamloops Centre for the Arts could cost $90 million – $20 million more than initial estimates in 2019 – because of an increase in construction costs.

At this time, it is also not yet clear if taxpayers would be asked to fund the additional $20 million or whether it would be covered by fundraising or grants.

“The taxpayers ability to pay right now, that is going to be a difficult one and issues related to restrictions on size of facilities makes it a stumbling block in terms of building large indoor facilities,” Christian added.

Construction costs however are expected to keep increasing the longer the city waits to build, according to City staff.

Assuming the 2020 referendum passed, design work on the new downtown facility was set to begin in spring 2020 with construction expected to start in summer 2021, with the facility opening in 2023.

Under those same timelines, as it stands, design work could get going in 2024, meaning construction would start in 2025 with the facility opening in 2027, provided it survives the referendum, whenever it is held.

– With files from Jeff Andreas