FEATURED COMMENT – Katie, an 1,100-seat PAC won’t attract rock bands
ProsperaPlace.com
Re: EDITORIAL – Pettiness continues around the City council horseshoe
What a petty group of city councillors we are stuck with for the next 593 days (my countdown from the initial 607 days) until the next election. The BS just doesn’t stop!
Thanks, Mel, for including reactions to Ms Neustaeter’s Castanet column. When I read it, I would have liked to respond, but Castanet did not open her column for comments. I don’t go down the rabbit hole of social media but I’m not surprised that others were less than impressed.
I was so happy that Katie and hubby could enjoy the band of their youth, and devastated that they had to travel the vast distance to Kelowna to see them. What a sacrifice they made. NOT! A band cannot stop in every city across Canada, they chose to go to Kelowna rather than Kamloops. The Kelowna concert was held in Prospera Place – a hockey arena with seating capacity of about 7800 for concerts.
Sandman Centre has somewhere around 6000-6400 seating capacity. Looking at their tour site, it appears that all concerts on their tour are in hockey arenas. No surprise there. Apparently they chose Prospera instead of Sandman. The proposed PAC will have a main stage theatre capacity of either 1100 or 1200 seating, depending on where you look. Do you really think that a rock band will trade the revenue from the sale of several thousand additional tickets for the privilege of performing in a glass walled building?! Not likely!
Katie, your assertion that “We need artists like those of our youth to know that Kamloops isn’t just a place you pass through, it’s a place that you can’t miss” falls apart. The PAC will not attract rock bands – there’s no correlation between the two.
Like others, I’m tired of hearing how the AAP not only met but exceeded the requirements. Yes, it met the letter of the bylaw, but only enough to ensure their desired result. The rules for an AAP are flawed anyway. Only 30% of eligible voters turned out for the Kamloops 2022 civic election, yet 10% of eligible voters are required in an AAP?!
The 5802 nays for the PAC is 25% of those who bothered voting in the civic election. A referendum should be compulsory for borrowing for wants as opposed to needs. It is the ethical choice that a responsible council should have made. Then both the vehemently in-favour and the vehemently-opposed have to show up and be heard and those who don’t care one way or another simply live with the results.
BARB STORMS
ArmchairMayor.ca 
Contemptuous council. They really do think they’re better than the rate payers. No one but council thinks a PAC is going to attract doctors to the crime capital of Canada. What a bone-headed contention.
What did the citizens of this community do to deserve this council?
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Thanks for a well researched and well written article, Barb. BS didn’t baffle brains 50 years ago and it still doesn’t. Katie should have done some research first and maybe thought that someone like you would find out the concert in Kelowna was actually in an arena that had adequate seating. She kind of made a fool of herself. This one almost rivals her debacle on St. Patrick’s Day 2023.
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In a nutshell a rock-bottom council making rock-bottom statements. All because they can’t fathom to bring administrators to account. Administrators which are subservients to the builders/developers “community”.
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Can you imagine what the elite in this city would do if a “Rock Band” came and played in their precious PAC? Firstly rock bands are not known sedate crowds who sit quietly for endless hours in their seats, secondly, having worked for several rock bands when they did come to the KXA, I can cite several instances where there was major damage to the building by the crowd and the band themselves. That is why they are in arenas. To attract them to our arena we need an individual (s) who can work with the promoters, not put barricades up to how they can set up, times etc. Schedules have to work around hockey, tournaments etc.. I have talked to promoters who voiced concerns about how they were treated and unrealistic expectations put in their way to bringing big name groups to Kamloops. Kelowna bent over backwards to accommodate and welcome such groups. So Katie dear if you expect your teenage heart throbs to come to Kamloops because of your new PAC, your are a hopeless dreamer. Your castle of glass would soon be a heap of shattered dreams.
ps Working in the health care system, I can also tell you that the vast majority of doctors I have talked to are here for our year round outdoor lifestyle. A PAC is at the bottom of their list of needs.
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The Castanet piece defending the alternative approval process (AAP) for the performing arts center and ice rink funding doubles down on the council’s PR problem. I would like to ask Kattie what are some examples of healthy growth in this city. Healthy growth attracts businesses and so would a performing arts center which I support, but all I see is shuttered windows and closed outlets in the malls. Starting with a personal anecdote about a concert in Kelowna with her “banker husband” might’ve been meant to be relatable, but it risks coming off as elitist to residents struggling with cost-of-living issues and businesses struggling with high rents, crime, and taxes. These are the issues all of you campaigned on. What happened?
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