FILE PHOTO - The Kamloops Daily News Building at 393 Seymour St.

(BRENDAN KERGIN / iNFOnews.ca)

KAMLOOPS – It appears the former Kamloops Daily News building will be demolished late this summer to pave the way for a new parking lot downtown.

The future of the building has been up in the air since the daily paper folded abruptly in January 2014. A referendum to turn the site, at 393 Seymour St., into a performing arts centre fell short by 1,668 votes in November 2015.

Following the failed referendum, council heard nine proposals for re-development of the site. Five came from the community and four from developers, David Trawin, Chief Administrative Officer with the City of Kamloops says.

Trawin says council proceeded and collected more information on one proposal of the nine. That proposal was from a development group, but in the end, fell short. Now the City is moving forward with a recommendation to demolish the site and build a surface parking lot.

The City’s recommendations that will be presented at the April 25 council meeting include a request for $50,000. Thirty-thousand dollars is slated for site exploration and for preparation of the public bidding process for demolition. They also ask for $20,000 for a detailed design and costing estimate, Trawin says.

Trawin adds the $50,000 will come from funds already in the budget for demolition of the site, which came directly from parking revenue.

“Any cost of this project is coming from parking and realistically it's nothing ventured nothing gained. It was determined that the best use of the space is for parking, which was the original intention,” Trawin says.

If the City's recommendations are approved by council, Trawin expects bidding on the demolition contract to open in May.  

- This story was updated at 4:50 p.m. on Friday, April 21 to include new information from David Trawin. 

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