The Kamloops Centre for the Arts Society is hoping to come forward with a new plan for the proposed facility later this year.

Interim Chair, Brenda Aynsley, says they’re waiting for word from the new City Council, which will be elected on Oct. 15.

“We really are starting from square one and we just need to be really sensitive to all of the issues that are out there,” Aynsley told NL News. “We know that there will be some concern but we’re firm believers that if people have the right information, they can make the best informed decision.”

Her comments come as a referendum on the proposed Kamloops Centre for the Arts will not be on the ballot during this fall’s municipal election.

“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,” she said. “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.”

Aynsley adds it is too soon to say what this proposed facility could cost, noting a lot has changed since the cancelled April 2020 referendum. At that time, Kamloopsians were being asked to approve borrowing up to $45 million for the facility over a period of 25 years.

Last November, a report to City Council showed that the Kamloops Centre for the Arts is now expected to cost $90 million. That is $20 million more than the estimates put forward in a 2019 business case due to an increase in construction costs.

“With the way that things are with the economy, it is very hard to make any estimations about [costs]. We will have a lot of work to do to bring forward the right plan, at the right time,” Aynsley said.

“We will have all the information that people will need to feel comfortable making an informed decision when the time happens, and we hope that that is going to be later this year, that we can bring something forward to council.”