Kelowna Community Theatre needs accessible washrooms and a bigger foyer but a replacement is many years away.

(ROB MUNRO / iNFOnews.ca)

Only one out of nine or 10 seats on a new task force on performing arts in Kelowna will go to a member of that community.

That hasn’t stopped the Citizens for a New Performing Arts Centre from fully embracing the concept.

“This is a huge step toward realizing the dream of an iconic new performing arts venue in the heart of Kelowna’s dynamic Cultural District,” Myles Bruckal, president of the advocacy group, said in a news release issued after council approved the terms of reference for the task force yesterday, Aug. 14.

“It’s the clearest indication yet that this council understands what an enormous cultural and economic boon this would be for the Central Okanagan. This really underscores the importance that this new Council attaches to this initiative.”

Formally called the Community Task Force on Performing Arts, it will be chaired by Mayor Tom Dyas and is to report back to council four months after getting started then four months after that. It's eight month term could be extended.

The Kelowna Community Theatre opened 61 years ago and advocates have argued for years it needs to be replaced.

Citizens for a New Performing Arts Centre was formed in 2020 with the goal to have a new theatre opened by 2026.

READ MORE: Dream of new Kelowna performing arts centre shaken but not dashed

They ran up against the fact that it was not in the city’s plans for at least 10 years as the major funding focus was on a new Parkinson Recreation Centre.

That’s in the middle of an alternative approval process that will determine, by Sept. 15, whether the city will borrow $241.3 million towards that project.

READ MORE: Kelowna residents have 8 weeks to decide on borrowing millions for Parkinson Rec rebuild

Still, the new task force is a major step forward in the effort to get a new performing arts centre.

Its mandate is to not only review existing studies and proposals for a new building but to look at funding partnerships, philanthropic opportunities and getting the public and stakeholders on board.

As such, one of the seats will go to someone with “fundraising and/or partnership development expertise.”

Others will include someone with real estate or city planning expertise, one or two people with “subject matter” expertise such as an architect or someone with a performing arts facility development background.

There will also be one person from the tourism/economic development sector, post secondary education, the business community and one other city councillor.

"While we understand that the Task Force cannot be expected to complete a facility design by the end of its eight-month term, we are pleased to note that key questions of facility usage, functional planning, and operating models will fall within the Task Force's scope of work,” Bruckal said in the news release.

“We have been immersed in the issues before the Task Force for 2.5 years and we look forward to sharing our expertise by whatever mechanism the Task Force sees fit."

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