Kamloops City Council met on Tuesday with the biggest item on the agenda being whether the River City would be building a new Performing Arts Centre.
After much discussion and input by the Kamloops Centre for the Arts Society (KCA), seven councillors, along with the mayor, voted in favour of a referendum on the project. The only councillor who did not participate in the motion was Councillor Dennis Walsh after he declared a conflict of interest.
"In my mind, it is best that we take this matter to a referendum because I don't want to preside over a council that said 'we spent $45 million because not enough people said we couldn't,'" said Mayor Ken Christian. "I want people to say that we support the Performing Arts Centre. We have that as part of our strategic plan as the elected council of the City of Kamloops."
Residents will now head to the polls to decide if a new centre for the arts is what they want. The new Performing Arts Centre would be located on at 4th Avenue and Seymour Street and costs approximately $70 million. Of the $70 million, $45 million would come from taxpayers with the rest coming from the arts society and a donation from the Kelson Group.
Starting in 2024, the City of Kamloops would begin to pay for the project which could take up to 25 years to pay off. If the project is approved and the City elects to take the full 25 years, residents may not see a rise in their taxes. The only tax raise residents could see is from the centre's operational costs, which could equate to $45 per household.
"When you look at the result of the tax reduction related to that, I think it's somewhere in and around $45 per year per household across the city. I think that is a small price to pay for making a more liveable community. In my opinion, that is an investment we ought to seriously consider on behalf of the citizens of Kamloops."
The new 120,00 square-foot building hopes to bring in performances by 2023. KCA believes that once the building opens, it will generate $2.9 million per year while providing over 30 jobs.
This is the second time the City has gone into a referendum regarding this project, with the first coming in 2015. That referendum cost the City $112,000.
Up next, City Council will set a date for the referendum.
