City’s purchase of Kamloops Daily News building passes petition process with ease

NEWS/ CITY HALL — City council has the green light from electors to borrow $4.8 million to buy the Kamloops Daily News building.

The loan had to get through the alternative approval process (counter petition) and it passed with flying colours — only 39 people signed forms objecting to it.

Under the process, 10 per cent of eligible electors would have had to oppose the borrowing to stop it. That means a minimum of 6,841 signatures.

The deadline for petitions was May 16, but the numbers weren’t released until staff could prepare a report for Tuesday’s council meeting. Council can now approve a bylaw to borrow the money — it’s being called the Property Purchase for Downtown Parking Loan Authorization Bylaw.

If a long-term borrowing proposal is defeated under the alternative approval process it must then be put to a referendum if council still wants to go ahead. When a parkade proposed for Riverside Park was rejected under the process, council decided to drop the project rather than send it to referendum.

The parking spaces on the KDN property will be used for public parking in the short term and it may be developed into a parkade, but it’s also in the running for a performing arts centre. If it’s used for either, it’s expected the brick building — constructed as a Hudson’s Bay department building in the 1950s — will be demolished.

The purchase won’t be finalized for several weeks.