Groups Have To Back ‘Future Of Arts And Culture’

A local official says arts and culture groups will have to band together to convince the community about the need for a new Greater Vernon cultural complex.

A 40 million dollar proposal put forward by the Regional District of North Okanagan board could be put to voters in a referendum this fall.

Gale Woodhouse, executive director of the Arts Council of the North Okanagan, says it represents the area’s future.

“40 million dollars is not going to look like 40 million dollars five years down the road, little alone ten years down. We’re building the facility that will take Vernon into the future in arts and culture, Yes, we are going to have to sell the short term, and the value of it, but I think we have to get creative about how you fund it,” Woodhouse told the Greater Vernon Advisory Committee.