Letter to Mayor and Council

Kamloops, B.C., December 8, 2022 —

Dear Mayor and Council,

We, the Kamloops Centre for the Arts Society (KCA) board members, whole-heartedly congratulate each of you on your recent election to Kamloops City Council. During the pre-election there was considerable excitement and support expressed for a centre for the arts and, post-election, you have confirmed this.

As you set the course for the next four years, we hope that you will continue to keep in mind the pressing need for cultural and recreation infrastructure as outlined in the 2019 Recreation Master Plan, which was re-endorsed by the previous council in 2021. As some of you may also recall, the KCA developed a business case for the project, which we would be happy to share and discuss with you.

The KCA and the Kamloops Sports Council (KSC) are committed to the Recreation Master Plan and see it as an important document that reflects community engagement with many groups and citizens who identified a centre for the arts as the number one piece of infrastructure needed in our city.

Although the pandemic sidelined the referendum for the centre for the arts, by all accounts, the referendum would have succeeded. Moreover, the KCA has continued to remain active in its pursuit to realize this facility. While time has passed, the need for the centre for the arts and other recreational infrastructure has only grown. The Kamloops population is now over 100,000. A growing city must keep pace with the needs of current and future residents to ensure we are able to attract the talent and professionals required in a city this size. The KCA has been in discussions with the KSC, which also firmly believes that a centre for the arts is the number one priority.

We applaud the vision of Ron and Rae Fawcett for beginning the steps to realize a centre for the arts in Kamloops. Kelson Hall is an incredible addition to the arts infrastructure in Kamloops, but it only begins to address the venue needs of our growing community. It’s time to turn our attention to the land east of Kelson Hall, which the City has already identified as the future location for the centre for the arts. Rest assured, the KCA has a strong desire to move this forward and will be actively pursuing and supporting efforts to realize a centre for the arts.

To this end, the KSC have contracted with a consultancy specializing in fundraising to gauge interest and the case for support for a “bundle” of projects: a centre for the arts, a twin ice rink, and a large curling facility to be built over a set number of years. The notion of bundling was earlier proposed by Councillor O’Reilly. Our organizations see merit in this approach and we have asked the consultancy to interview individuals and businesses in Kamloops to determine interest and donor capacity in our community. We expect the consultant to deliver a report to our organizations in the next three to four months, which will be shared with the council once complete.

We wanted to inform you of our current efforts and to reinforce our unwavering commitment to serving council and the community in realizing a centre for the arts for Kamloops. We look forward to further conversations with you in the months ahead.

Sincerely,

Brenda Aynsley

Chair, KCA Society

cc. Henry Pejril, President, Kamloops Sports Council

Board of Directors:

Brenda Aynsley, Chair

Alisa Coquet, Vice-Chair

Fiona Chan, Treasurer

Laura Piva-Babcock, Secretary

Barbara Berger

Margaret Chrumka

Dennis Clare

Paul Dagg

Thomas B. Friedman

Kathy Humphreys

Evan Klassen

James MacDonald

Daniel Mills