A photo of a handout depicting a rendering of a new performing arts centre in downtown Kamloops distributed at the Jan. 8, 2019 city council meeting.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED/CHP Architects

The proposed performing arts centre in Kamloops is likely to have a much higher price tag than formerly presented.

Now up to a potential $90 million, funding for the Kamloops Centre for the Arts is yet to be approved but City staff said surveys have shown strong support for the project.

"In resident surveys for the recreation master plan, the performing arts venue came out as the number one recommended facility," Linda Stride, recreation, health and wellness supervisor of the City, said at a Nov. 16 committee of the whole meeting.

A referendum was expected to be brought to the public in April 2020, when residents would have decided whether to allow the City to borrow funds for the project.

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At the time, it was estimated to cost $70 million, but the referendum was postponed indefinitely due to COVID-19.

"The referendum isn't about building the facilities. The referendum is about the borrowing," corporate services director Kathy Humphrey said at the meeting.

She added that Council would still have to approve the project before any money is borrowed. Staff would also apply for grants to help pay for the project, but higher levels of government first require a design and business case for the project before they can apply.

So the City first has to decide whether it will pay for the design before it can apply for grants, which isn't guaranteed to be approved.

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The performing arts centre update was given along with a broader update on the recreation plan for Kamloops, which included dollar figures and updates for other potential projects at local sports facilities.

Council was not voting on approval of the performing arts centre on Nov. 16, but the report will be considered in the future.

Kamloops residents voted on the same issue once before in a 2015 referendum. Just 32% of eligible voters showed up at the time and nearly 54% of voters decided against borrowing funds for the project.

In 2015, the performing arts centre was estimated at $49 million.

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On Tuesday, councillors discussed their support for the performing arts centre and other potential projects for the Tournament Capital but Coun. Mike O'Reilly added his opinion that the Thompson Nicola Regional District should pitch in funds for capital projects.

He said the areas of the regional district that have been growing the most are the ones directly surrounding Kamloops, so residents outside of the city are coming to the centre to use its facilities.

Because of that, he wants the regional district to consider adding funds for the City's large projects and namely, recreation facilities.

Humphrey noted that it's common in other areas of B.C. for municipalities to coordinate funding efforts with regional districts for large-scale projects, and that it could be explored in this case, too.

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