This past week saw the City of Kamloops launch the latest version of its plans to revitalize the downtown core through the Arts.

A ground breaking ceremony was held Wednesday at the site of a municipal-run parking lot in the 3oo-block between St. Paul and Seymour Streets — a City-run parking lot which was not able to make it to an 8th birthday.

It’s demise in the relatively young stages of its existence is the latest in a saga which has surrounded that piece of land, and its influence on local politics, economics and — at times decorum — within Kamloops.

The ceremony just off the corner of St. Paul and 4th came around 24 hours after senior City of Kamloops staff, as well as members of Kamloops Council, began a full-court press to try to tamp down various narratives permeating social media circles in Kamloops about what the new Kamloops Centre for the Arts is going to cost.

“There is no additional tax increase required for the Kamloops Centre for the Arts, and it has no impact on the 2026 budget,” stated the City’s Communications Manager Kristen Rodrigue as part of a presentation before Council’s Governance and Service Excellence Select Committee on November 25th.

Despite those reassurances, the angst and fervor surrounding the project now — and in the past — also highlights a growing divide among those either on, or currently aspiring to be on, Kamloops council who might be hoping to set their agenda for the forthcoming election in October through it.

Costs stack up as new challenges revealed

Budget documents recently revealed that there will be added financial pressure on the broader project — mostly because of the chosen location itself.

Those pressures include at least $22 million in increased costs to create a deeper and more solidly-reinforced parkade on the site, which is designed to be a two story, underground parkade meant to supplement the loss of the now mothballed 172 stalls of surface parking.

While the physical scale of the parkade is not expected to grow, the scope of the construction will have to if the City hopes to meet the latest design plans, which includes 158 stalls.

This includes a deeper dig to level out an imbalance in the grade of the parkade, which — like much of downtown Kamloops — slopes toward the Thompson River, but at an angle which was more pronounced than first anticipated.

According to some close to the project, another challenge facing engineering crews is what remains of the building which had been home to the Kamloops Daily News — on top of a critical Internet line linking much of Kamloops to the current fibre optic network.

Owned by Telus, that Internet connection — which runs underground along a midline between Seymour and St. Paul streets in an east-west direction — had already been identified as a significant concern.

Crews who recently completed the Seymour to St. Paul portion of the ongoing sewer line upgrades along 4th Avenue had to take extra precautions in digging that trench due to the potential impact.

It’s been explained to Radio NL that a disruption of said connection would not only cut off fibre optic Internet services for numerous residential customers in Kamloops, but would also leave most of the banks in downtown Kamloops unable to process payments or offer cash through ATM’s until that connection was restored.

While the City is working with Telus to overcome these issues by rerouting the fibre optic line, another challenge exists:  What to do with the remanence of what is still left of the building — last home to the Kamloops Daily News — before it was torn down in 2017.

The original, failed bid by the City to authorize the creation of a Performing Arts Centre in 2015 saw the City revert back to is original plan for the site — the parking lot.

But with no Arts Centre to be built there at that time, crews simply filled in the holes and paved the surface, with an overall cost at the time of roughly $1.1 million for the building tear-down and construction of the 172 parking stalls.

While the location and the former building on the site is often referenced as the former Kamloops Daily News building, it originally began its life as a Hudson’s Bay Department store.

Built over the course of 1956, the building and the store itself was considered ahead of its time when it opened in 1957.

This included an escalator, which was technology somewhat unique to the BC Interior to that point, and required complex engineering and equipment at the time to maintain and operate.

The Hudson’s Bay Company did pour a sizeable amount of money into the building’s construction — $750,000.

70 years later in 2025 dollars, that’s around $8.5 million.

With that large and somewhat questionable financial outlay, (given hindsight into what’s happened to the now-bankrupt Canadian institution since then) the Hudson’s Bay Company did build the store to last.

On top of the copious amounts of asbestos put into that — and every other building constructed at the time to try to fire-proof it — the company did also lay out the money for an extremely durable foundation to hold the weight of the stone and cement design.

That solid base may have helped convince the newspaper’s owner to take control of the building and shift the Kamloops Daily News operations there in 1992, as — much like libraries — news paper producers often require reinforced buildings to handle the weight of the news print and the equipment needed to put out a daily broadsheet.

But it’s that existing foundation which is said to be creating its own challenges — an unexpected legacy of the Kamloops Daily News and The Bay in downtown Kamloops.

Those with knowledge of the situation say that when municipal crews were digging a trench over the summer along Seymour Street for a possible reroute of the Telus fibre optic line — which took place at the same time as the 4th avenue sewar line work going through the area — engineers discovered the extent to which the building’s foundation is helping maintain the stability of the roadway itself.

This is said to be raising questions and concerns about what impact any removal of the Hudson’s Bay base may have on the stability of Seymour, which is the main west-to-east route used by heavy truck traffic and north Kamloops commuters transiting into or through downtown.

There are also said to be questions about how much of an impact this could have on the scale, cost and/or design of the underground parkade.

It’s also created suggestions within some circles of City Hall that the parkade could be set up as a project separate to that of the Centre for the Arts, with suggestions it could open up a different avenue for grant funding and allow a more specific focus to allocate and direct staff or contractor resources.

However, other sources say that suggestion is unlikely to gain enough traction amongst the majority of council, or of City staff tasked with managing the project, to go forward.

Despite these challenges, the calculation of roughly $150,000 per year in revenues generated by the parking lot recently revealed by City staff to the Mayor, the just under 8 years the parking lot survived did ultimately pay for its creation.

But that $1.2 million in revenue does not cover the $4.8 million the City paid to take over the plot of land itself.

It’s these costs which have many ratepayers in Kamloops worried the Centre for the Arts is going to start taking a larger bite out of their annual property tax bill as the City looks to recoup its investment.

Council shapes message as project firms political lines

“We committed as Council three years ago that we would have a taxation of 1% for five years. That is it. That is all the taxation that this community will have on this project,” said Councillor Kelly Hall in conversation with Radio NL following the ground breaking ceremony on November 26th.

“Other funds that are available… are available through gaming, through reserve funds, through donations and fundraising — but also grants,” added Hall.

He’s suggested that City-backed analysis would suggest the Centre for the Arts may be able to generate upward of $40 million in donations or other in-kind agreements.

“We’ve got a Class A design now. The numbers that are out in the community right now are numbers that have been certified. They’ve been verified. They’ve been audited by a third party audit to ensure that we will not go over those numbers,” said Hall.

“As a matter of fact, we possibly could come even under those numbers,” added Hall.  “For the community as a whole, there will be no other taxation on any of these Build Kamloops projects.”

The comments by Hall followed a revelation by himself at the ground breaking that someone had anonymously donated $1 million to the City the week before to help finance the construction — construction which began the day after the ceremonial event.

Led by the Chair of the Kamloops Centre for the Arts Society, Brenda Aynsley, the gathering was celebration for those who support the project, and also an opportunity for those on City council, as well as those behind the scenes at City Hall, to take a victory lap.

“To our City staff, thank you for listening and understanding and delivering on all accounts as this project has evolved through the years of hard staff work,” said Kamloops Councillor and current Build Kamloops Chair Kelly Hall as part of his turn at podium.

“I’d also like to recognize donors — past and future donors Ron and Rae Fawcett,” added Hall.  “A huge thank you for all that you’ve done for the Center for the Performing Arts so far, as well as your contribution and your unwavering faith and support and generosity — we truly appreciate that.”

Founders of the Kelson Group, Ron and Rae Fawcett created Kelson Hall out of the remains of the former Telus building at the corner of 3rd and St. Paul, and have donated millions of dollars toward the construction of the new Arts Centre since the Performing Arts Society was founded in 2019.

The Deputy Mayor for November, Councillor Katie Neustaeter, was also on-hand to help throw dirt into the air.

Neustaeter, who has not yet signalled her intentions for her political future, was effuse in her praise of those in attendance, which included former Kamloops Mayors Terry Lake and Mel Rothenberger.

“I too would like to acknowledge the mayors who have joined us today and those who aren’t able to be present but have shown their support before, when we stood on this very ground a few months ago and began to launch into this project,” stated Neustaeter at the podium on the Wednesday.  “We truly, as a council, do stand on your shoulders and thank you for what you’ve built previously, for how you’ve built this community.”

Those not in attendance included Councillor Stephen Karpuk and Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson.

A reason for Karpuk’s absence has not been made clear to Radio NL.

However, reports suggest the first-term councillor may have been somewhat leery about launching a celebration of the project amid growing concerns about its cost.

Hamer-Jackson, for his part, did reach out to Radio NL about an hour before the ceremony was scheduled to begin.

Early budget reveal clouds Arts 2.0 rollout

In a stated bid to be more “proactive” and “accountable,” Kamloops Council authorized City staff to engage the public earlier than it normally would when it comes to the annual budgeting process.

Normally preferring to wait until the initial budget projections can be whittled down to a more politically-palatable ask of homeowners, the process this year for the fiscal 2026 budget saw Council and City staff throw the door open much earlier in the process.

That included the first draft of a potential tax increase which was set at roughly 10.7%.

A double-digit tax hike for home owners is unlikely, with consensus among those who follow Kamloops City Hall suggesting the ask of taxpayers when the final votes are cast will be in a range of between 7% to 8.5%.

While the budget process is now more transparent, unveiling the “everything and the kitchen sink” initial draft has become a catalyst for frustration and misinformation among worried home and business owners in the City, something Councillor Katie Neustaeter admits is a challenge to overcome.

“A project of this significance should be challenging,” countered Neustaeter when asked about the impact the project is having on public perceptions, as well as her and any fellow councillor’s ambitions to be a candidate in the October, 2026 election.

“This is an enormous amount of money that’s being invested, that’s being committed, and people should ask challenging questions,” said Neustaeter.  “They should have hard questions to bring to us to say, what is the plan? What does this look like? And we really encourage people: Do take a look at the financials.  Do take a look at the plan.  It’s not only your right, but your responsibility as a voter.”

Creating his own ripples are suggestions from Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson that the Kamloops Centre for the Arts could be established at a different location, and/or that it be put on-pause for the time being, citing the rising costs.

Speaking with Radio NL on that suggestion, Hamer-Jackson argued there are quite a few home owners in Kamloops who are struggling to make their mortgages, and would appreciate a lower tax hit.

Budget Director Dave Hallinan did take time to address suggestions that cancelling the overall project could reduce taxes by 3%.

He told the November 25th Governance Committee meeting that figure of 3% is based on a misunderstanding of the Build Kamloops tax strategy and fails to consider the significant commitments and expenses already in place.

Even under a hypothetical cancellation, Hallinan argued there could be, at “best case, a one-time, one per cent [tax rate cut].”

While a 10.7% tax increase is unlikely in Kamloops, the 5-year financial plan us suggesting a 2026 tax increase of roughly 6.7% for 2026, which would add around $170 to your municipal bill, putting it above $3,000 for the average home owner — which wouldn’t include the roughly $1,400 home owners will also be asked to fork out for hospital, school and TNRD taxes, among others.

The November 25th session at City Hall also saw Councillor Neustaeter — the deputy Mayor for November — clap back at Hamer-Jackson’s notion of moving the proposed location to River Street, which the Mayor suggested could fit well on a plot of City-owned land near the Yacht Club.

“Moving or stopping the Performing Arts Centre is not an option at this point,” chastised Neustaeter as part of the Committee session.

“We need there to be clarity around that in the community as well. This is a train that has left the station. There has been profound public engagement on this. There has been all of the conversation around the AAP and validating the proper process was used,” shot back Neustaeter.

“There is no consideration or way of considering moving this project, stopping this project without incurring millions of additional costs in order to do that. Not just in contracts that are in place, because again, this project is not at point A. This project [to move the Arts Centre to River Road] is at like point Z,” Neustaeter shot back at Hamer-Jackson’s proposal.

“It [Kamloops Centre for the Arts] is happening.   It is moving ahead.  There is no pause.”

Officials in City Hall are recommending those interested in becoming more engaged in the process to visit the City’s Let’s Talk Kamloops webpage.

–With files from Jeff Andreas