ROTHENBURGER: What’s the next big edifice for the Tournament Capital?

Neither of those things is likely to be on the Top 10 list of what Kamloopsians yearn for. Another million will go towards planning for future major amenities, and the rest will be put in the bank as seed money.

So what is it that the denizens of the Tournament Capital really, really want? Council and staff have some general ideas: a performing arts centre, a new curling arena, a new swimming pool, more skating rinks, an upgrade to RCMP quarters, for example.

It will all have to be worked out, of course. At some point, though, there will be a need to go in debt to make them — whatever they end up being — happen. We’re talking big money, many, many millions.

Taxpayers will have to be asked if they want their taxes raised to accomplish it all. The record on Kamloops referenda is spotty — getting public approval for bricks and mortar has never been easy. Sometimes, as in the cases of the performing arts centre and the earlier combined arena-science centre at Riverside Park, voters simply say no.

Timing is sometimes everything. Everything, that is, except the money, which taxpayers are usually hesitant to part with. One interesting idea is to hold one grand referendum for all of it, approval of which would do away with worries about whether individual projects will make the cut, and when to hold money votes on each one.

The idea was broached last October by Coun. Mike O’Reilly. I panned the proposal in an editorial, saying such a referendum would surely fail but would also present some major challenges, including inflation that would make it impossible to nail down costs over the years of the plan.

And, I said, priorities change. So do grant programs from provincial and federal governments. Better, I said, to deal with projects separately, when the time is right for each.

It was shortly before the civic election, and O’Reilly fired back in a rebuttal published by CFJC Today.

He pointed out that a number of major-project referenda have passed, including the 2003 Tournament Capital proposal, which I championed as mayor. Not all his facts were bang on, but he correctly said an updated vision is needed for Kamloops.

O’Reilly touted the need for a performing arts centre and various sporting facilities, saying Kamloops is falling behind.

The councillor’s concept of how such a referendum would be designed was vague but, clearly, the idea hasn’t gone away because Coun. Bill Sarai raised the question at this month’s

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.

by Mel Rothenburger

ROTHENBURGER: What’s the next big edifice for the Tournament Capital?

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