The proposed drawing of what the centre may look like.

Image Credit: FACEBOOK: Vernon Public Art Gallery

Contrary to an earlier promise, politicians are pushing forward with a plan to borrow roughly $28 million to build the Greater Vernon Cultural Centre.

At a Nov. 3 meeting, Greater Vernon Advisory Committee members unanimously decided to move forward with a plan to borrow $28 million and go ahead with a smaller cultural centre after millions in grants from senior government were rejected several months ago.

The move reneges on an earlier promise that the money would not be borrowed if grants from the provincial and federal governments were refused.

However, the politicians don't see it as a broken promise, reiterating that the public still has a say in whether the money should be borrowed or not.

The issue arises from what the public was told during the 2018 referendum for the $40 million Cultural Centre.

At the time, the centre was to cost $40 million, with the Regional District of the North Okanagan borrowing $25 million and the other $11 million coming from provincial and federal grants, along with $4 million in fundraising.

The public was told the money would only be borrowed if the senior government grants came through.

However, in September the grant applications were rejected.

The directors at the Greater Vernon Advisory Committee are now suggesting the money be borrowed through a method known as an alternative approval process. Quicker and cheaper than a referendum, the process means the money can be borrowed as long as 10 per cent of electors don't oppose it.

While this seems to completely contradict the earlier promise that the money wouldn’t be borrowed if the grants didn’t materialize, the politicians disagree.

"(Because) there was clearly community support for a new cultural centre at the time then this is a reasonable way to pursue it,” Greater Vernon Advisory Committee vice-chair Bob Fleming told iNFOnews.ca. “It's not anybody trying to slip anything through the back door. Rather than to drop the project entirely, the thinking was to go back to the drawing table and come up with a project that would achieve the goals but on a smaller scale."

The original plan for the cultural centre was to be a 39,000-square-foot building that would have a 200-seat performance space, room for travelling exhibits along with a new home for the Greater Vernon Museum and Archives and the Vernon Public Art Gallery.

The proposed idea now is that the Cultural Centre will be approximately 25,000 square feet and be the new home for the Vernon Public Art Gallery and the Greater Vernon Museum and Archives, although the physical archives will remain where they are. The building will also feature a performance space to hold events. The location remains the same, encompassing almost the entire block at 32 Avenue and 29 Street.

The building will also be designed so it can be easily extended in the future if provincial or federal grants materialize.

While the original plan to borrow $25 million was set to cost taxpayers $48 per year for the average household based on the assessed property value of $430,000. Borrowing costs have since decreased so $28 million will be borrowed at the same cost to individual ratepayers.

Greater Vernon Advisory Committee chair Akbal Mund doesn't see using the alternative approval process to borrow the funds as reneging on the earlier decision.

"What the general public agreed on was the fact we want an arts and cultural facility... because that's what the community needs," Mund said.

Mund said he was confident there would be no opposition to borrowing the money and moving forward with the cultural centre.

“The bottom line is we want to build an arts and cultural centre… and how do we do it with the restricted funds we have at this time?” he said.

Regional District of the North Okanagan Electoral Area C director Amanda Shatzko said the alternative approval process was a way of double-checking that the public is happy moving forward with the project.

"It's going to the public for them to see what they want to do, they can still decide what they want to do," Shatzko said.

But why not go to another referendum to see if the Greater Vernon area taxpayer wants to pay for a smaller cultural centre?

The politicians point to the fact it's timely and expensive and the alternative approval process is a much faster and cheaper process.

Following the Nov. 3 meeting, the file now moves to the Regional District North Okanagan Board of Directors meeting Nov. 17. The borrowing also needs to be approved by Vernon and Coldstream councils, and ultimately the provincial government.

Shatzko said if everything goes through, shovels could be in the ground in the spring of 2023.

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