KAMLOOPS WAR MEMORIAL PROJECT Jeff Lodge is working with the Kamloops Museum and Archives to document everything about those names on the Battle Street cenotaph — who they belonged to, the families they left behind and who they were before they became soldiers
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NOVEMBER 10, 2015 | Volume 27 No. 135
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PERFORMING-ARTS CENTRE REFERENDUM
NORA AND NORMAN
From England in the Second World War to a return to civilian life in Canada and Kamloops, this is the story of an enduring love that is especially poignant at this time of year
NO: 11,979 (53.74%) YES: 10,311 (46.26%) VOTER TURNOUT: 31.97%
After the vote — what now? ANDREA KLASSEN
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STAFF REPORTER
andrea@kamloopsthisweek.com
ANOTHER WAY TO REMEMBER George Johnson of Thompson Rivers University pens a book that looks at how we remembered the fallen before Armistace Day ceremonies were created
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With no performing-arts centre to fill it, the former Kamloops Daily News property downtown becomes one big question mark for the City of Kamloops, which purchased the lot at Seymour Street and Fourth Avenue in the spring of 2014. Almost 54 per cent of residents who took part in Saturday’s referendum voted against allowing the city to borrow up to $49 million toward the cost of a $91-million arts centre and parkade complex on the site — and Mayor Peter Milobar told media there is “no Plan B” for the space beyond an existing 200-stall parking lot. When the city purchased the land from Glacier Media, it said it would use the lot to add additional off-street parking downtown. The underground parkade included in the artscentre plan would have provided 350 stalls. Milobar said the city would still need to borrow for some other kind of parking project on the lot, which would also
require residents’ approval — either through referendum or the more commonly used counter-petition process. But, it could be some time before a new concept is put to Kamloopsians. “On one hand, you have everyone in downtown Kamloops saying how desperate the parking situation is,” Milobar said. “On the other hand, every time we give them a parking option, they reject it. “So, I think we have to take a step back and say, ‘OK, what other priorities are we focusing on as a city?’ And we’ll work on some of that for the next while.” Brendan Shaw, chairman of the Yes Committee, said his group will meet to “re-evaluate what happened and try to move forward from there.” While he believes there is an appetite for some sort of arts centre, Shaw is uncertain whether those involved on his committee will be involved in spearheading a new plan. PAC Not Yet spokeswoman Nelly Dever, whose campaign called for a different funding model and design for the proposed centre, said she, too,
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is stepping back from the artscentre conversation. Dever’s group closed its Facebook page yesterday and considers itself disbanded. “At the end of the day, we hope no one has seen this as a failure, but as an option to move forward and build stronger ties with all of the stakeholders in the community,” Dever said. “It’s up to city hall what
PERUSING THE POLLS
Breaking down the votes across the city Page A5
they’re going to do next on the issue, but there’s lots of support out there so, hopefully, this is used more as a momentum than as a stopping point.” If the city doesn’t move ahead with a revised arts plan, Dever said she hopes it partners with a residential developer to build a combination of parking and housing on the former Daily News property.
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