The Effie Arts Collective on Tranquille Road in Kamloops is in the process of applying for a new liquor licence that would be in effect on days when it has events.

The City’s Development and Engineering Director, Marvin Kwiatkowski says it would be different from the existing process where staff at the North Kamloops facility have to apply for special event permits for every event they host.

“That is basically what has been happening in recent years,” Kwiatkowski said. “They’d like to clean that up and make it more efficient.”

Aaron Shufletoski with the Effie Arts Collective told City Council on Tuesday that the public consultation they’ve done to this point has been positive.

“We’ve done a fairly good neighbourhood engagement already. We’ve tried to talk to everybody in the neighbourhood,” he said. “I’ve got 76 letters of support.”

“I know I talked to three people that had concerns. We tried to address the concerns of two people that offered support after. The third member couldn’t be swayed either way.”

Shufletoski added the Effie Arts Collective – at 422 Tranquille Road – is a space where local artists can perform. The facility regularly hosts open mic nights, as well as stand up comedy shows and burlesque shows.

“A liquor licence is going to be very helpful in making it actually successful financially,” he said.

Kwiatkowski told Council that the RCMP have not raised any issues with single event liquor licences that have been granted in the past.

“The liquor application licence would only pertain to the times when there is a theatre event, so its not like they can serve liquor through out the day when there is no event happening,” he said. “That will be written into the licence.”

“There was a similar application in 2021 and there was some neighbourhood concerns just in regards to the hours. They said the hours should be consistent with other establishments in the area so this application is in alignment with other applications as far as the times go.”

Kwiatkowski noted that the facility will be capped at 130 people, and that it will be operational between 11 a.m. and 1 a.m. Monday to Sunday.

“There have been numerous letters of support that have come in and the North Shore Business Improvement Association is also in strong support,” Kwiatkowski said.

While the application will be back before city council for more input on Jan. 23, it will be up to the BC Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch to grant this updated liquor licence.