(Image Credit: Kamloops Centre for the Arts Society).

By Mel Rothenburger

ARMCHAIR MAYOR

ROTHENBURGER: Putting off performing arts centre vote is a smart move

Aug 10, 2022 | 4:49 AM

TIMING IS EVERYTHING. Thus it is with the Kamloops performing arts centre.

The PAC, as it’s commonly known, won’t be on the ballot as part of the Oct. 15 civic election. In an e-mail to members yesterday, Kamloops Centre for the Arts Society interim chair Brenda Aynsley said the society will wait until a new council is in place and then “seek action” on a new PAC.

Mayor Ken Christian liked the idea of putting it on the October ballot in order to avoid the cost of a stand-alone referendum. An October vote would have saved about $100,000 but would have doomed it to failure.

And a failure this time around would have killed the long-held dream of a new, state-of-the-art performing arts centre for many, many years to come.

Question of the Week

With King Charles III visiting Canada this week, do you feel the monarchy is relevant to Canadians?

19h ago

1000 Ways to Heal

1000 Ways to Heal: Exploring the Outdoors

23h ago

Looped In

LOOPED IN WITH NIKKI OMEN: May 26, 2025

23h ago

Fact is, taxpayers aren’t ready to revisit the project. They’ve turned it down once and, with the pandemic not over and people still not in a spending mood, they aren’t yet willing to put up several tens of millions of dollars for an amenity that at least some regard as pandering to the “elite.”

Fact is, of course, that a new PAC would serve a broad spectrum of the public and fill a major gap in the city’s amenities. It will get only one more chance to succeed, and this year isn’t the time.

No doubt, proponents are still disappointed that a 2020 date for the referendum had to be shelved due to COVID, but patience is key.

Patience, of course, comes at a price. Estimated cost of the project keeps rising, while its scope has been shrinking. Wait too long, and the local share of the cost will escape the reach of what taxpayers think they can afford.

That makes next year the time to go for it. Next year, it can succeed; not now.

Putting the referendum off till then is the smart thing to do.

I’m Mel Rothenburger, the Armchair Mayor.

Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops and a retired newspaper editor. He is a regular contributor to CFJC, 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 Pattison Media.