The City of Kamloops says the new performing arts centre and a four sheet ice multiplex could be open by the end of this decade, if a proposal to borrow up to $275 million is approved.

Build Kamloops Committee Chair Mike O’Reilly says the two facilities are the first in a series of projects that will “change Kamloops for the better.”

“We’re not a point where we feel we have to sell the community on ‘we’re going to be short on ice pretty soon, or we’re going to need a performing arts centre pretty soon.’ We are way past that point,” O’Reilly said. “That was 20 years ago. Our town is growing up and we are a city now.”

“If this goes through, this will be a generational shift for Kamloops. This is a once in a generation thing that is going to happen, and it will change Kamloops for the better.”

Council unanimously voted in favour of borrowing money to pay for the two projects, pending approval from eligible voters though the Alternative Approval Process, or a counter petition where only the no side is required to vote.

“They’re big numbers that are in front of us but we do have a larger population,” O’Reilly said. “Our debt has come down significantly over the last 10 years. We have not spent any more money on recreational facilities.”

“We tried to feather it out as much as possible and we’re looking at [an additional] $25 a year per household on the average for the five years. That is what the increase in taxes will be.”

The City of Kamloops has used the Alternative Approval Process, sometimes called the counter-petition process, in the past. It did so in 2005 to borrow $48.5 million for the water treatment centre, and in 2013 to borrow $40 million for the wastewater treatment centre.

“It’s important for residents to understand that we are not seeking approval to build the facilities; we are seeking approval to incur long-term debt,” a statement from the City said.

Assuming the city’s plan to borrow money is approved by the Inspector of Municipalities, O’Reilly says the process is expected to wrap up in September.

A Build Kamloops project timeline released by the City shows that barring any significant setbacks, construction on the Centre for the Arts could begin next year, with construction on the multiplex getting underway in 2026.

Build Kamloops also includes a new leisure pool on the North Shore, a large curling club facility to accommodate the consolidation of the two curling clubs, new indoor field space, and a new all-ages community centre.

It may also include housing in some of those facilities, if it is found to be feasible.

The initiative also includes a trio of smaller projects – a new seniors community centre in North Kamloops, a renovated indoor soccer dome, and new daycare spaces near McDonald Park.

City expected to use IPD process for Build Kamloops projects

Matt Kachel, the City’s Capital Projects Manager says his team expects to use the Integrated Project Delivery model to build the other projects that make up the ambitious Build Kamloops initiative.

He says it includes selecting and working with the companies that will design and build the facilities ahead of time, in a bid to increase efficiency and reduce costs.

“We did this for the Canada Games Pool and were very successful with that,” Kachel said. “The City of Vernon followed our lead in their Active Living Centre that is happening right now. They used the exact same IPD process as we did.”

“We would keep doing it because its effective for these large projects particularly ones that have a lot of risk but also lots of opportunity for innovation.”

Staff are already in the process of finding companies interested in designing and building the long-awaited – and sometimes controversial – centre for the arts, which is set to rise at 4th Avenue and St. Paul Street downtown. Those companies are expected to be in place by January, at which point Kachel says validation and detailed design work will begin.

“By using the IPD process, we can get a really good sense of like what the market costs are for parts but also we can drill into the risks with the whole team so if they do occur, we’ve planned for them,” Kachel said. “We know that they’re going to happen, and it just becomes part of our plan versus scrambling trying to figure out how to address it.”

Kachel says the previously used design/bid/build model for large projects often had to rely on contingencies, which often led to cost overruns in the event something went wrong.

“We’d go out a hire an architect, they would pick all of the engineers, hire a general contractor and they would bring all of the subcontractors in. This way we get to pick for all of them based on their skill and their experience,” Kachel said.

The total cost to design and build the Centre for the Arts is now an estimated $154 million, while total costs for the new ice arena multiplex – which will be built on city-owned land at 2070 Hillside Drive, next to the main entrance of Kenna Cartwright Park – is $140 million.

You can find more about the Build Kamloops Initiative, including the scope of the selected projects, here.