The proposed $70-million arts centre goes to referendum on Apr. 4 (Image Credit: CHP Architects)

By Chad Klassen

PROPOSED ARTS CENTRE

Arts centre society confident it can raise millions needed for proposed facility

Feb 3, 2020 | 4:38 PM

KAMLOOPS — The proposed $70-million Kamloops Centre for the Arts does not sound cheap, but the group in charge of fundraising more than a quarter of the price tag, says it can be done.

“$22 million, from my perspective and my experience at the art gallery, is very attainable when we look at federal funding and provincial funding,” said executive director of the Kamloops Art Gallery Margaret Chrumka, who’s also a board member on the Kamloops Centre for the Arts Society. “We have lots of support from corporations in town as well for the arts. We’ve seen that here at the art gallery. I know the symphony and theatre see the same. And we get support from our individual donors.”

The Kamloops Centre for the Arts Society started selling $2 memberships in the summer. Following a slow start, momentum has picked up. It has about 5,000 members today.

“We had quite a surge through the month of December thanks to the performances at Western Canada Theatre and the Kamloops Symphony,” noted Chrumka. “I was actually at the Canadian curling club play last week and [WCT artistic director] James MacDonald asked people to raise their hand in the audience, how many have become members. Previously, there was about 20 percent of the audience that were members. Now, we’re seeing around 50-60 percent of the audience are members.”

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The society says memberships account for the only fundraising at this point. It won’t be until after the referendum, in the case of a ‘yes’ vote, the other fundraising efforts will begin.

While it’s waiting to hit up potential donors, the society noted it shouldn’t deter people from committing before the referendum.

“We’ve made it clear that if people want to come forward and if they have significant contributions they would like to make, I think that would be really helpful in our process,” said President of the Kamloops Centre for the Arts Norm Daley. “But our efforts right now is on getting people out to vote and getting that referendum won.”

Residents who are against the project have expressed concern on social media about taxpayers being on the hook for any cost overruns. However, the City’s director of corporate services Kathy Humphrey said at council last week if the project goes over budget, some features of the centre would be scaled back.

Either way, the society says it would be able to raise more than the minimum $22 million to cover any extra costs on the project.

Residents go to the polls on the proposed arts centre on Apr. 4.