PETERS: A monumental two days for the future of Kamloops

Monday saw the province stepping up with a series of housing announcements that will add more than 500 units to our housing stock.

More housing is needed even beyond that, but 500-plus units takes maybe the biggest bite out of our housing deficit we’ve ever seen.

The public spaces will step nicely alongside the hundreds of private sector spaces that are poised to open up in the coming years, most notably with the City Gardens project downtown.

Then on Tuesday, the Build Kamloops initiative started to take shape, beginning with an arts centre and a recreation complex that includes four new ice sheets.

We’ve spoken at length about the need for a performing arts centre, but it has been more than 30 years since new ice sheets have been built in this city.

Every parent who has driven their child to a practice or game in the wee hours of the morning will tell you about what impacts a lack of capacity has.

What it will take from all of us is a commitment to put a few of our tax dollars toward debt servicing over the next generation.

It’s a small price to pay for the trickle-down impacts this will have for the quality of life we need as a whole city.

The last decade or so has been marked with a great deal of negativity directed toward our city by its own residents.

We dwell on the amenities we don’t have and the problems we do.

That level of negativity is toxic. The radioactivity is contagious.

But positivity can be contagious, too.

For all their flaws, our leaders are showing belief in Kamloops. It’s time for the rest of us to climb on board.

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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 James Peters

PETERS: A monumental two days for the future of Kamloops

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