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February 22, 2023 - 1:00 PM
The society pushing for a new performing arts centre in Kelowna is taking the opportunity to speak up again as city council ramps up plans to engage the public on city priorities.
The Citizens for a New Performing Arts Centre has called on city council to establish a task force of councillors and expert stakeholders in the community to speed up the development plan for a new arts centre and look at things like location, construction parameters and financing, according to a media release by the society issued Feb. 21.
“We applaud the council for its determination to listen to the community, as a means of identifying key areas of focus for its new mandate,” society co-president Myles Bruckal said in the release. “We intend to be part of this process, and to underscore why the Okanagan urgently needs a better place to showcase the performing arts.
"We’ve done the legwork and we know it’s urgent that we take the next step. Establishing a task force would demonstrate the will necessary to advance this vital project.”
The society has been pushing for a new performing arts centre in Kelowna since forming in 2020, as the current Kelowna Community centre is almost 60 years old. Society members want a more technologically advanced performing arts centre.
Research commissioned by the society shows a contemporary, 1,600-seat venue and the economic benefits it would bring to the city.
READ MORE: New Kelowna performing arts centre pushed years into the future
“As the population of our region continues to grow, so will the demand for the kind of top-notch entertainment that often bypasses Kelowna now,” Bruckal said. “It’s imperative that we build a new centre that will attract the great performances that our citizens and visitors deserve.”
Last summer, city council was advised to put the project off until at least 2032 as there is no money to even start planning the project until at least then.
According to the society’s website, the members “want to see the curtain rise" by 2026.
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