City to seek help with megaprojects

By John MoorhouseTuesday, January 16, 2007 http://www.pentictonherald.ca/article_2842.php
While Penticton city council looks for senior government funding for four proposed multimillion dollar projects, it is also pondering whether to step forward and save the Pen-Hi auditorium. Council endorsed plans Monday to apply for two-thirds federal-provincial funding for almost $76 million in local projects. They include:
• New performing arts centre ($25 million)
• Sewage treatment plant expansion ($24,875,000)
• Aquatic centre expansion ($20 million)
• Water treatment plant expansion ($6,087,000)

City treasurer Doug Leahy said more than $150 million is available for B.C. projects under the Municipal Rural Infrastructure Fund. The final one-third of funding must come from the local government.Mayor Jake Kimberley said he personally feels the aquatic centre expansion should top the city’s priority list for the grant applications.“It’s an aging building and certainly in much need of some upgrades,” he said.Plans for an upgrade to the community centre pool were revealed last month. Options include a new 50-metre or 25-metre pool with diving area, allowing the existing pool to be converted to a “leisure pool” with larger change rooms and a poolside cafe.Public approval through a referendum or the alternate approval process (counter-petition) would be needed for any city borrowing bylaw.

Under media questioning Monday, council members said the current focus on the $73-million South Okanagan Event Centre project does not mean the city can’t afford other major projects. “The city is in rock solid financial shape,” Coun. Rory McIvor said. “We’re not even close to going over a line, financially, that would be inappropriate for our community.”Voters in September approved plans to borrow $36.1 million for the event centre project, to be paid off over the next 10 years. Local property taxes for the event centre will rise by two per cent, phased in over the next three years. City treasurer Doug Leahy said the city’s debt load in 2006 remained among the lowest in the Okanagan.

Meanwhile, Kimberley confirmed the city has also approached the Okanagan Skaha school district over the possibility of taking over the Penticton Secondary School auditorium. The school board has said if no group comes forward by March 31, the 730-seat auditorium will be demolished upon completion of the Pen-Hi reconstruction project in 2008.“We’re not sure how we can accommodate that building, but we’re working with the school district on how’s that’s going to go about,” the mayor said.Cost estimates range from $3.8 million to $4.5 million to upgrade the auditorium for extended use as a performing arts facility. Once the main Pen-Hi building is torn down, the auditorium would require its own heating and air conditioning system, as well as upgrades to the stage and dressing rooms.

The Penticton District Performing Arts Facilities Society has proposed a number of different locations for a new performing arts centre in the city. However, Kimberley said so far none have been approved by the city.“They have pinpointed several city properties they have an interest in,” he said. “They have not asked for money from the city. They have just asked for that donation of land.”The mayor said the society has indicated the Pen-Hi auditorium would not suit its needs. He said the city will have to sit down with the society to further discuss the issue."Their interest is solely to construct a new building and we're not sure whether we have the land to accommodate that," he said. "We're certainly looking at several sites."The city is currently reviewing all options, including possible renovations to the Cleland Theatre.Don Grant, chairman of the Performing Arts Facilities Society, could not be reached for comment Monday.