A referendum on the proposed Kamloops Centre for the Arts will not be on the ballot during this fall’s municipal election.

That it according to the Kamloops Centre for the Arts Society, which says once the new Mayor and Council are in place, it will “seek action” on the City’s Recreation Master Plan which identified the facility as a priority.

“Over the past year, we saw local theatre, symphony, dance, and other cultural activities return to live performances [but] unfortunately, the limitations of the Sagebrush Theatre that existed before the pandemic still persist,” KCA Society Interim Chair, Brenda Aynsley, said.

“Anyone who attended Western Canada Theatre’s production of The Wizard of Oz may have noticed the set pieces that were stored outside under white tents. That the basics of a production cannot be stored inside the Sagebrush Theatre, clearly demonstrates the inadequacy of our City’s current facilities and the critical need for new performing arts spaces.”

Kamloopsians were set to decide the fate of the Kamloops Centre for the Arts on Apr. 4, 2020, though it was scrapped at the eleventh hour because of the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic in Mar. 2020. At that time, residents were being asked to approve borrowing up to $45 million for the facility over a period of 25 years.

Aynsley tells NL News the society has been waiting for the right time to bring the facility forward.

“And we believe that that time is now. You know the existing council has endorsed the Recreation Master Plan and our role in the next three months is going to be about educating the community as to the importance of the Recreation Master Plan,” she said.

“I know that every sector of our community was affected by the pandemic but the arts were hit pretty hard because they needed people in the seats. It is really only in the last four to five months that we’ve seen our facilities filled with people, so it is really just a matter of timing for it not to be on the ballot this year.”

In January, outgoing mayor Ken Christian said putting the referendum question on the Oct. 15 ballot would 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 at the time.

He also felt 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.

“With a municipal election on the horizon, we will continue to share the value of the Kamloops Centre for the Arts with all candidates and the newly elected Mayor and Council,” Aynsley added. “We recognize in any election – including this one – there are a variety of important issues and priorities that must be considered.”

“We hope that the people that get in there will be a council who once again approves. We just need a directive to move forward and that time we will come forward with a new plan because things have changed so much since the previous one.”

“We are pleased to be joined by the Kamloops Sports Council in our shared pursuit to activate the Recreation Master Plan,” she added.

“The Sports Council is fully behind the priorities as outlined in the Recreation Master Plan and agrees that the need for a new performing arts centre is the first and foremost priority. The KCA Society and Kamloops Sports Council both believe that our community cannot afford to wait any longer before a new arts centre is realized.”

A Nov. 2021 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 those costs have further increased, if taxpayers would be asked to fund the additional $20 million, or whether the increaes would be covered by fundraising or grants.

City council also approved staff liaising with the Kamloops Centre for the Arts Society this year ahead of design work on this facility getting underway sometime in 2024.

It could mean a potential opening in 2026 or 2027 – assuming one year for design work and two years of construction – if voters approved the referendum, whenever it is held.