The Kamloops Daily News Building at 393 Seymour St.
(BRENDAN KERGIN / iNFOnews.ca)
March 24, 2016 - 2:34 PM
KAMLOOPS - The city’s search for ideas about what to do with the former Kamloops Daily News building continues.
City real estate manager Dave Freeman says he’s only had two inquiries about the building since a request for information was sent out in early March.
“Both have to do with the asbestos in the building,” he says.
Freeman says there haven’t been any proposals across his desk yet.
The Downtown Neighbourhood Association says is advocating for a retrofit of the building to create a performing arts centre, according to a media release. The renovations it is proposing would create new parking downtown and two theatres, one with 450 seats and another with 1,200. The 1,200 seat theatre could be optional and added at a later date.
The association says the retrofitted building could be a hub for different community arts groups.
Freeman says the city is looking for broad proposals right now and has placed ads in media in Vancouver and Calgary to draw interest from outside the region. He hopes the broad nature of the request will limit the barriers to proposals, so the city has a range of ideas to look at. The deadline for proposals is April 15.
The city bought the site in 2014 for $4.8 million after the daily newspaper folded.
A proposal to build a $90 million performing arts centre was defeated in a referendum.
The building is currently vacant while parking on the property is being run by Impark.
To contact a reporter for this story, email Brendan Kergin at bkergin@infonews.ca or call 250-819-6089. To contact an editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
News from © iNFOnews, 2016