(JENNIFER STAHN / iNFOnews.ca)
November 03, 2015 - 2:30 PM
KAMLOOPS - If you still aren't sure how you want to vote in the performing arts centre referendum, there are a couple events coming up to help answer your last minute questions.
Advance voting has already taken place for the proposed performing arts centre and the official voting day is set to take place Nov. 7. The city and Thompson Rivers University will both be hosting information sessions this week to help residents decide how to vote.
The university will be hosting a free discussion tomorrow, Nov. 4, from 7 to 10 p.m. in the Brown Family House of Learning. Faculty of law lecturer and local lawyer John O’Fee will moderate the event.
The city is also hosting two open houses on Nov. 4 at Parkside Lounge at the Sandman Centre. The sessions will run from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 4 to 7 p.m.
The proposed performing arts centre has gained both supporters and detractors. Two campaigns, the YES Campaign and PAC Not Yet have been busy lobbying Kamloops residents through social media, mailouts and signage.
Recently the YES Campaign gained a celebrity endorsement from Boston Celtics forward, and hometown boy, Kelly Olynyk.
“Whether on a court, field or stage high performance is a special thing to encompass and witness. Nothing but positive things come from providing opportunities for excellence," Olynyk says.
On Saturday, Nov. 7, a referendum will ask residents if they are in favour of borrowing $49 million to build a performing arts centre. The referendum itself is expected to cost $160,000.
The proposed centre is a $90-million project, with $25 million of that slated for a parkade. If built, it will be located at 393 Seymour St., the location of the former Kamloops Daily News site.
If built, the centre will be financed through a one percent increase in property taxes in 2016 and an additional one per cent in 2017, which translates into roughly $40 dollars per household, per year for 20 years.
To contact a reporter for this story, email Dana Reynolds at dreynolds@infonews.ca or call 250-819-6089. To contact an editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
News from © iNFOnews, 2015