City pays $4.8 million for former Kamloops Daily News property for a future parkade

NEWS — The City will be the new owner of the former Kamloops Daily News building and parking lot at 393 Seymour St.

An announcement from City Hall today said the purchase price is $4.8 million, to be funded by parking revenues and reserves earmarked for parking infrastructure.

The building, constructed as a Bay department store in the mid-1950s, has been mostly empty since the newspaper closed in January. 

The City said there will be no visual changes to the site in the short term but it will begin considering design concepts for future development. It includes the building as well as a parking lot across the alley that served as parking for the newspaper’s staff.

“The Daily News site was an initial respondent to the Downtown Parking Expression of Interest and with the closure of their operation we have the opportunity to acquire the entire site,” said Mayor Peter Milobar.

“The central location makes it an excellent spot to add more parking to downtown,” he said.

Since the shutdown of The Daily News, the site had been speculated about as a potential site for a performing arts centre, or a parkade.