EDITORIAL – Regardless of how we got there, we’ll be glad about it

An editorial by Mel Rothenburger.

‘MIXED EMOTIONS’ might be a good way to describe the outcome of the alternative approval process on borrowing for a new performing arts centre and an arena.

I’ve been clear about my support for building a PAC. I wasn’t invested in the iceplex project but I’ve backed the PAC since 2003 when it was put into our cultural strategic plan. As mayor at the time, I tried very hard to get it built long ago but didn’t get it done. At long last, it will become a reality.

I wouldn’t have been disappointed if the ‘No’ had won on the AAP. It would have forced a referendum, which is what should have happened in the first place. The AAP was simply the wrong process for these projects.

But we’ve been through all that. Despite the shortcomings of the alternative approval process, there was no doubt about the outcome when the numbers came in. Opponents made a strong effort to meet the 10 per cent threshold, and the fact 5,802 electors return ‘No’ forms on the PAC is a strong indication of how unhappy the public was with the project, the process or both.

However, and it’s a big however, their work fell some 4,000 votes short. The number of rejected forms, 561, would have made no difference.

The iceplex numbers were even more favourable toward approval of the borrowing. So, the time is past for saying no; it’s time to say yes and to move ahead. We’re going to have a fantastic new arts venue downtown, and hockey lovers will have four new sheets of ice to skate on up at Hillside Drive.

Time to stop worrying about the locations. Time to stop worrying about lack of parking at the PAC. My old office at The Daily News is going to become a balcony in one of the PAC theatres, and that’s that.

The PAC will do much to repair the imbalance between sports and the arts in Kamloops. It’s going to be beautiful. It’s going to be a place that brings together all Kamloops residents, not just the “elite” as some claim.

Let’s be honest. There will be glitches. Construction might not stay on schedule, and it might not stay on budget. But the facilities will be built within the amount authorized to be borrowed, or they’ll have to go back to taxpayers to ask for more. Or, the projects will have to be scaled back.

I doubt very much that money will be an issue. Grants from senior governments and robust fundraising campaigns from local philanthropists will help get the job done.

So, let’s, as they say, leave the past behind. Let’s be happy about this. At the end of the day, we’ll be in the right place.

Mel Rothenburger is a former regular contributor to CFJC-TV and CBC radio, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award, and a Webster Foundation Commentator of the Year finalist. 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.