EDITORIAL – City-TNRD team approach to PAC challenging but worth exploring
An editorial by Mel Rothenburger.
WITH THE ARTS CENTRE back for discussion, the City, at the prompting of Coun. Dale Bass, wants to talk to the regional district about teaming up. Since some people outside City limits will make use of the new centre, if it gets built, it might be a logical arrangement.
The idea isn’t new. When the PAC went to a referendum in 2015, residents of Sun Rivers wondered why they weren’t included. The City council of the day wasn’t interested.
When the aborted 2020 referendum was up for discussion, same thing. The idea of including the TNRD in the project was never pursued.
It’s been done elsewhere. When Vernon built its performing arts centre in 2001, it was done jointly by the City, two regional district electoral areas, and the District of Coldstream.
Conceivably, it could be done here with adjacent TNRD electoral areas. But what about Sun Rivers, which is not governed by the TNRD? It has upwards of 2,500 people and is still growing but it sits on Tk’emlúps te Secwe̓pemc land. Residents there pay their taxes to the Band, not to the City or the TNRD.
That means the Band would have to agree to some sort of arrangement to collect the taxes for the arts centre and pass them along to the City. The federal government, which ultimately controls the leasing of Band lands to non-Band members, might even have to be part of it.
Besides that, the matter of acquiescence would have to be figured out. For example, if City residents voted in favour of the PAC, but Sun Rivers residents voted against, it would hardly be fair to force Sun Rivers folks to be taxed.
Still, the possibility of a joint City-TNRD approach should be discussed, and the fact City council is now interested in it is a positive sign. But Sun Rivers and TteS must be part of that discussion.
I’m Mel Rothenburger, the Armchair Mayor.
Mel Rothenburger is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. He has served as mayor of Kamloops, school board chair and TNRD director, and is a retired daily newspaper editor. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.
ArmchairMayor.ca 
This current council could care less about public input. Their record over this past year supports that. They spend money like a little rich kid with an limited trust account. They have no intention of re visiting any decision or listen to the taxpayers.They are bankrupting our city and we still have almost 3 years of this nonsense. To build on the proposed site will result in any empty building as without parking no one will come. ill thought out and poorly conceived. There are better options but this council does not care!
They throw hissy fits just because the mayor dares to question anything. He is ONE vote for heavens sake. Where did decorum and civility go? If it is true that Councillor Sarai used profanity then he should have been called out as that to my knowledge is not permissible in council meetings.
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As Walter rightly said it we are ALL about big trucks, dirty pubs, mediocre restaurants and hockey….that’s the culture. No building, no matter how expensive and no matter the partnership will undo that philosophy unless we change the focus. And the focus needs to be first and foremost.
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Why is the city so dead set on putting the PAC downtown? And why are they insistent on a design full of expensive glass that will be shattered within a month? If the city, the TNRD and the local Band could work together to design a much less “creative”, affordable building and possibley have the Band host the building on their lands, there would be much less issues with parking and access plus create a bridge between the 3 entities that would promote both of our diverse arts cultures.
Putting it at Henry Grube would be a fiasco. Some months it is impossible to get parking anywhere around there. Between soccer, events at the Grube, volleyball tournaments and people accessing the beach, it is impossible to find parking. It can take a long time to get out of there as there is only one road out. For the folks who live in the area , it will be very hard for them to even park at their homes or get out in case of an emergency.
PS Having talked to many doctors in the area, they all said they moved here for the outdoor experiences not the “culture”.
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I think it important to include TNRD in the discussions. Sun RIvers residents often attend cultural events and would do so in a new PAC. And yes the band would need to be involved in the discussion.
Please note I think the current preferred location is a poor choice. A much better choice would be near the Henry Grube Centre on the North Shore – better parking, better view and a bonus for the North Shore. Years ago (probably 20 years) when PEter Mutrie was chair of the NSBIA, a charette was held to review this possibility. Perhaps current council could talk to Peter and find out more. A PAC has been discussed for years and it’s time to act.
Maybe the TRU arts closure has something to do with the reality that Kamloops does not have a decent arts and cultural venue for those who might wish to remain in Kamloops after graduation.
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Does it seem a little odd that the City of Kamloops has on its web site the acknowledgement of our being on traditional lands held by First Nations people yet there appears to be a reluctance to have a joint partnership with them on a Performance Arts and Cultural Centre?
Look under the title “Local Truth and Reconciliation” on kamloops dot ca
Is reconciliation only as deep as the ink on a piece of paper?
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Those agreements and land acknowledgments are performative theatre. Nothing more.
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Perhaps true enough, Walt. I just read the story on infonews that was written by Levi Landry. Apparently Councillor Sarai called out the name “Jesus Christ” when Mayor Hamer-Jackson raised his hand to vote against the motion to spend $7 million on a study for the PAC downtown. I didn’t know Bill was such a religious man…….. or has he mistaken the Mayor for Jesus Christ???
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Should the $160 million PAC (dollar estimate includes projections for overruns) get built at the current location, I see the following:
Parking will be an absolute nightmare.
PAC will become a magnet for vandalism, open drug use and smashing the glass facade.
I feel like the PAC ship sailed long ago. Someone made a comment earlier that it feels like council is the irresponsible broke relative who always needs to borrow money for one thing or another and never repays.
It would be good to embrace what Kamloops really is. Big trucks, pubs, mediocre restaurants and hockey. That is what the city cultivated for 30 years and it’s just too late to change it. TRU is even giving up on the arts.
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