Resident Don Porter wasn’t feeling too keen on a proposed performing- arts centre at the start of Thursday night’s meeting at ISC — to the point where he described his position with a thumbs-down and a stuck-out tongue.
But, after an hourlong presentation by city staff and Kamloops Mayor Peter Milobar, Porter thinks it “may not be such a bad deal,” though he’s not yet fully convinced.
His friend Gordon Harris has a similar take
“I’m not quite as against it,” he said.
A first look at the recommendations for the centre got a warmer reception from many of the city’s arts groups.
“We’ve been waiting for this for many years,” said Cathy Humphries, general manager of the Kamloops Symphony Orchestra. “I’m very excited and I can’t wait to roll up our sleeves and get to work, get behind it.”
Jann Bailey of the Kamloops Art Gallery said she’s pleased with the choice of location at the former Kamloops Daily News site because, she noted, “women in fancy dresses and heels don’t want to walk very far.”
Tom Friedman of the Kamloops Film Society praised the black-box aspect of the facility — a secondary, 350-seat theatre next to the main 1,200-seat theatre — which he said would fill most of the needs for the annual Kamloops Film Festival.
Lori Marchand, general manager of Western Canada Theatre, said wasn’t ready to react to the news quite yet, but doesn’t believe the plan would make either of her theatre company’s current venues irrelevant.
“The Pavilion and Sagebrush Theatre would remain vital components to the city,” she said. “The Pavilion is affordable and a lovely size.”
Not everyone had praise for the centre.
Kamloops Voters’ Society acting president and Thompson Rivers University political science professor Derek Cook said Thompson Rivers University should have been chosen as the location for the proposed facility, where he does not believe it would not require a parkade.
“This thing is an excuse for a parkade,” Cook said.
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