Rendering of proposed Performing Arts Centre (image credit - City of Kamloops)

By Michael Reeve

PERFORMING ARTS CENTRE

Long talked about Kamloops performing arts centre takes step forward

Jan 22, 2024 | 7:38 PM

KAMLOOPS — The long talked about performing arts centre will be back in front of Kamloops council in early February after the Build Kamloops Committee approved a motion to send a recommendation to the full table.

The motion set for February 6, will ask council to approve $7-million in funding, through a short-term loan, to complete the validation and detailed design phase of the project.

“You have to ask yourself as a person living in Kamloops, where do you want to see Kamloops in the next 15 to 20 years? How would you like to see it grow?” said Acting Chair of the Build Kamloops Committee Kelly Hall.

It was a unanimous vote from the committee to move the next step of the performing arts centre planning process forward.

“We’ve seen conceptual drawings out in the community about what we want it to look like. I think to move it forward and show that there is actually some city commitment to it, I think it’s important,” said Hall. “At this committee level, and talking to the councillors, I thought it was important that we put it forward to the team of the city council.”

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While Build Kamloops is working toward five individual projects, including ice sheets and pools, the performing arts centre is the furthest along thank to concept plans completed by the Fawcett family.

“Four of them are at the very high level, not even conceptual stage at this point,” said Civic Operations Director Jen Fretz. “Where the Kamloops Centre for the Arts is really that much further along in the process and the concept has been developed. We are really trying to basically run two concurrent process at the same time.”

While the plan still needs the green light from council in February and eventually the general public, there’s hope Kamloops could see a shovel in the ground in 2027.

“Who knows what the timeline is going to look like and what kind of hurdles we will run between now and two years? But that is the intent, that if everything goes smoothly, in about two years from now, a little bit more probably, we would be ready to go shovels in the ground,” said Fretz.

Since it was first discussed approximately 20 years ago, the price of the centre has grown exponentially, now sitting at $120 million.

“We all recognize as a community that we need this facilities, we need to see the growth, the development within this. The social implication that comes from building these infrastructure facilities for Kamloops helps us become a city of record within the province of B.C.” added Hall.

Kamloops city council will vote on the motion during their regular meeting on February 6.