ROTHENBURGER: New PAC plan looks good, but parking problem has to be solved

KAMLOOPS — PERFORMING ARTS CENTRE 2.0 was unveiled anew Tuesday, this time with a business plan.

The Kamloops Centre for the Arts Society presented the plan to City council, which referred it to administration to report back on borrowing options.

Shorn of details, the plan goes like this:

A 120,000 sq. ft. centre including two theatres and a black box would be built on the old Kamloops Daily News site. A 20,000 sq. ft. building next door would be converted for administrative use.

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It would cost $70 million, including a maximum of $45 million raised through taxation. Proponents say that could be cut to as little as $30 million if fundraising and grants go beyond the budgeted $22 million. Another $3 million would come from Ron and Rae Fawcett.

And, says the society, with the debt on the Tournament Capital Centre about to be retired, the actual impact on tax rates could be nil.

When it opens in the fall of 2023, the centre would create 31 jobs and bring significant economic and cultural benefits to the City. But there’s an elephant in the room.

The defeated 2015 plan would have cost $91 million, of which $49 million would have come from local taxpayers. But that plan included a 350-stall underground parkade at a cost of $25 million.

The new plan includes only 70 underground stalls. Where would the rest come from?

That, says the society, is up to the City. So, City council will be left to wrestle with the parking question.

Severing parking from the new plan makes for a better-looking cost at $70 million but, the fact is, the PAC and parking have to go hand in hand.

This project deserves to succeed, but the parking issue has to be solved.

I’m Mel Rothenburger, the Armchair Mayor.

Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops and newspaper editor. He writes five commentaries a week for CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a director on the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.

Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group.