With Sagebrush Theatre offline through the summer, the Executive Director of the Kamloops Symphony Orchestra is hopeful they’ll be able to lobby for a new Performing Arts Centre this time around.

Kathy Humphreys says she has been pushing for a new venue for years.

“Of course, we had our major disappointment about three years ago when the referendum was defeated,” she said.

“But I’m really hopeful that this time the community will see the need the need for a lot of groups and organizations and realize that it’s out time in our community to do something about arts infrastructure.”

As a matter of fact, Humphreys says she doesn’t have to do a lot of lobbying, as people bring up the issue to her directly.

“Most people that I run into in the community say, ‘Well, this just shows you what happens when you only have one venue and there’s no place for people to go,'” she added. “It makes it obvious that something has to be done.”

“So, I think there’s a groundswell of community support for a project and that this time, there will be a lot of people behind it.”

KSO, the Western Canada Theatre and other users of Sagebrush Theatre have been impacted by the February 15 closure.

City staff have been going over the $70-million project details over the last several weeks.