By Armchair Mayor

ROTHENBURGER: Five hurdles the performing arts centre must cross

Jan 12, 2019 | 6:00 AM

IT’S A PRETTY SAFE assumption that another referendum on a performing arts centre is in the cards. The challenge will be to get it over the 50 per cent threshold. Since the 2015 referendum fell just short with a 46 per cent vote in favour, that means a four per cent turn-around is needed.

Maybe the numbers crunchers at City Hall can do some magic and figure out how to avoid the need for a referendum but I very much doubt it. After grants, donations, reserves and fundraising efforts are tallied up, taxpayers are still going to have to come to the table and a referendum is the likely way to do it.

Earlier this week I urged the naysayers to ask the tough questions but with a view to making this project doable rather than resisting it before they have full information.

Unfortunately, some are already rejecting it out of hand before the financials have even been calculated.

A business case will be put together, a design will be created, and the many ways in which a PAC can be used by the community will be explored. A recent example that disproves the myth of a PAC being for the so-called ‘elite’ is the record-breaking pre-Christmas production of Elf, which wasn’t one of my favourites (it could have been tightened up by half an hour) but was certainly popular, and anything but highbrow.

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Regardless of the financial model, extensive public input and an effective information campaign will be necessities. But beyond that, here are five important things that need to be done.

1. COUNCIL MUST BE A CHAMPION — In 2015, the mayor and council were afraid of the referendum because of the price tag, and took an “it’s up to the voters” approach. Since it failed, City Hall has done nothing, zero, zilch to encourage a Plan B. Now, the current mayor says it’s up to the arts community to lead it. In fact, there was a substantial coalition of local groups who worked hard trying to get the 2015 version approved and if council had been a full partner it might have passed. This time, City Hall needs to join a new coalition as an enthusiastic all-in supporter.

2. NAME IT NOW — Give it an identity so people know what to call it when they’re debating the pros and cons at the coffee shops, water coolers and social media of Kamloops. Make it a living thing. It doesn’t have to be complicated but it needs to be named in a way that recognizes it as a community venture — Kamloops Performing Arts Centre (‘KamPAC’?) or Kamloops Concert Centre would be OK. Just don’t open it up to naming rights. Leave that to the individual theatres, rehearsal rooms, meeting rooms, the annex and whatever else it will include. Nobody will object to sitting in the Acme Widget Inc. Theatre. Renting out names to those things will bring in plenty of revenue.

3. TALK TO THE NORTH SHORE — The Tournament Capital Centre referendum passed because it included the North Shore via the major upgrades to McArthur Island. Spreading the benefits between the North and South Shores was not accidental, it was strategic. The notion that the PAC “has to be downtown” is faulty. Had a PAC been proposed for the Henry Grube Centre — which has always been my favourite location for several reasons — the North-South split wouldn’t be an issue but that’s water under the bridge, pun intended. The Yes campaign will have to focus heavily on identifying benefits to the North Shore.

4. HEAD OFF ORGANIZED OPPOSITION — The PAC Not Yet group was instrumental in defeating the 2015 referendum, claiming they weren’t against a PAC, just not that one and just not then, but they offered no alternative of their own. After the defeat of the referendum, PAC Not Yet disappeared back into the woodwork; there was no more talk of coming up with a better plan. Well, here’s another chance for them to get the facility they claimed to want. Bring them into the Yes Committee tent.

5. SOLVE THE PARKING — This is the Achilles heel of the Fawcett plan. Seventy spaces will not cut it. If that’s all the new PAC contains, the downtown parking nightmare will multiply. An expensive parking study isn’t required to figure it out. Let’s do the math. Imagine a full house at the main 1,200-seat theatre, bringing 600 cars into downtown. Further, imagine it on a Blazer game night. The proposal says the City can add more spaces to the PAC parkade if it feels they’re needed. The 2015 referendum totaled $91 million. Of that, $25 million was for parking, which included 349 stalls. It doesn’t take Newton to figure out that if the Fawcett plan had included 349 parking spaces, its suggested total cost would have rivaled the 2015 projection of $91 million rather than the $70 million used in this week’s unveiling. The City must find an answer to that, and it won’t be easy.

Tough hills to climb? Sure, but certainly not impossible. Ron and Rae Fawcett have done a wonderful thing for Kamloops by breathing new life into the dream of a performing arts centre via their willingness to donate heavily to the cause.

If these five things can be done, I believe it can succeed this time.