Funds Approved For Arts Referendum

 Written by Peter McIntyre  107.5 KISSFMThursday, 03 October 2013 15:01
The plan for a referendum on improved Vernon cultural facilities will undergo more scrutiny. The Greater Vernon Advisory Committee approved a staff recommendation to spend 30-thousand dollars to hire consultants to confirm construction and operating costs for a new Vernon Public Art Gallery and expanded Greater Vernon Museum. The estimated cost for the two projects is 17.9 million, but the study, due for completion by November, will come up with more exact figures. Swan Lake BX director Bob Fleming says he needs those details to decide if Area B residents will take part in a referendum. "As a bare minimum,I'd like to see better information about what is being built, what the ultimate costs that will be sent to referendum are, and maybe some input as to whether that's reasonable," says Fleming. Fleming says there's still unanswered questions for him. "The art gallery is looking to expand by three fold, going from 6,000 square feet to almost 18,000. The museum is looking to almost double their space from 12,000 to 30,000 square feet, and in both cases, those are proposals that haven't been reviewed by anybody here at this table," Fleming tells Kiss FM. Area C director Mike Macnabb is also still undecided about his electoral area (BX-Silver Star) taking part in a referendum, proposed for sometime next spring. "Right now we're looking at an increase in operating budget for $250,000 on top of what we currently pay, and it's starting to get a little rich. We would want to make sure before going ahead with this, that we're not getting tied to a white elephant," says Macnabb, who is also GVAC chair. RDNO Community Development coordinator Tannis Nelson says another $30,000 could be spent later for public education material prior to a referendum. Another GVAC motion mandated that the art gallery and museum cover extra costs to hold the referendum next spring as opposed to when civic elections are held in the fall of 2014. That could amount to $50,000, but Dauna Kennedy-Grant, executive director of the art gallery says it won't be a problem. "We have the money jointly set aside. Unfortunately we'll have to divert that from some of the purposes we had intended to use the money for," she says. Kennedy-Grant adds they had originally planned to use some of those funds to sell the proposal to the public. GVAC will also look into buying the two proposed sites for the facilities, which are both currently by Vernon. Vernon director Bob Spiers doesn't think the city should offer the regional district a sweetheart deal, as was done before. "The last land we sold for $1 under the (new Vernon) library should have been sold for fair market value as far as I'm concerned so that everyone that participates shares in the cost," says Spiers. The proposed location for the art gallery on 31st Avenue (the former Vernon Flower Shop) is valued at $880,000, while the museum's land cost in the civic complex is still being determined.
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Preliminary Costs estimates at D.3 - Cultural Facility Development and Referendum Process