UPDATE: 12:30 PM

The MLA for Kamloops South is blasting the province after plans to replace the aging downtown BC Lottery Corporation headquarters were cancelled. 

Todd Stone says the scrapping of the project will mean a significant economic impact for downtown Kamloops.

“It is outrageous,” he said. “As recent as only months ago, the government appeared to be suggesting that the project is still on track, that they were committed to it.”

“In the span of only a matter of months, we now learn that the construction of a new headquarters in the City of Kamloops is dead.”

Stone says the existing 54-year-old building simply cannot hold the hundreds of new jobs that would have been created with a brand new building.

He notes the downtown BCLC headquarters has already generated over $1-billion dollars of spillover economic impacts to Kamloops and a new building would have meant so much more.

BCLC CEO Jim Lightbody says new information came forward showing costs would be more than $100-million dollars, and also that the current headquarters are well maintained.

“We have to remember that as a crown corporation, we have to be very prudent with our investments and make sure that we are doing the right thing as it is the public’s money that we are dealing with,” he said.

Lightbody also noted they have no intentions of moving the headquarters from Kamloops, where it currently employs about 450 people.

Mayor Ken Christian was not happy on hearing news of the cancellation today.

“Certainly disappointed,” he said. “I met with Jim Lightbody this morning.”

“My biggest concern is that they are still committed to Kamloops as the HQ of BCLC and that they are still committed to accommodating the organic growth within that business in Kamloops. They’re going to have some challenges with that old building.”

And as for any hope of a new BCLC headquarters in the future, Christian says “it is off the books.”

Back in July 2018, the government said the project was “all systems go” and that it was only estimated to cost about $50-million dollars.

 

-With files from Shane Woodford and Colton Davies.

 

ORIGINAL: 11:39 AM

BCLC has deferred plans for a new Kamloops Head Office.

In a release, BCLC says they will remain in its existing Kamloops headquarters facility and defer any further discussion of redevelopment into the future.

It’s based on a third-party review, but they say they’re committed to Kamloops as home to its headquarters.

“Kamloops has remained the home of BCLC’s head office since day one, and that is not going to change,” said Jim Lightbody, President and CEO. “We look forward to many more years of success in this community.”

BCLC will continue to monitor the Kamloops headquarters – which is more than 54 years old, originally a Woodward’s department store – to ensure it meets future needs.

Back in June, Attorney General David Eby said the project was “all systems go.”

More to come…