Working group to address operating cost ‘challenges’ with cultural centre plan

Jul 17, 2020 | 12:43 PM

Vernon’s mayor says holding down operating costs for the proposed new cultural centre will be a significant challenge.

A Regional District of North Okanagan (RDNO) report predicts the costs to run the art gallery and museum facility could create a deficit of $290,135 in year one, rising to $314,052 in year five.

“The expectation that that we could hold operating costs flat in moving to a larger facility have not proven out, so that is definitely going to be a significant challenge for our group,” Vernon Mayor Victor Cumming told Vernon Matters in an interview.

The earlier assumption was the operating costs related to utilities and maintenance would result in an overall tax increase amounting to about $1 per resident.

However, a business case plan put before local politicians in April put that figure at $585,000 a year.

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“This total includes not only building maintenance and utilities, but also insurance, security, janitorial and grounds keeping; all of which benefit from coordination and use beyond the museum and art gallery. It also includes a net revenue generated through the proposed presentation space,” the report said.

Cumming said he and other members of a newly formed working group will be looking into that, and other issues to try and keep the project moving forward.

“You can do a couple of things [to reduce operating costs]. You can do other things on the site that generate revenue; you can do other things on the physical site that would lower your borrowing costs or capital costs. You could use the money that were trying to fundraise for an endowment for the operating costs. So it all requires significant creative thought and project development,” Cumming stated.

Cumming is joined on the working group by Coldstream Mayor Jim Garlick and RDNO electoral area reps Amanda Shatzko (Area C) and Bob Fleming (Area B).

Voters approved borrowing up to $25 million in a November 2018 referendum for a $40 million facility for the museum and art gallery.

The main tenants of the proposed centre have been asked to see if they can tighten things up as far as the space they need in a new building.

“So it’s not downsizing in any way. It’s still providing the same things they are going to provide. And is there a way in which this can be done that the physical size comes down a little bit? That was the request from the Greater Vernon Advisory Committee,” Cumming said.

The mayor says the proposed cultural centre may need more than one-third of the Coldstream Hotel site.

Cumming says a business plan for the facility makes it clear there will need to be an outdoor public space, which was not considered previously, but he says it should fit on that downtown site.

The mayor says the only other location being considered is Polson Park, but it has drainage issues which may rule it out.

An RDNO report to be presented to city council Monday suggests the building size can be reduced by up to 20 per cent, with one suggestion to leave the museum’s archives in its current location.

Next steps for the project as outlined in the report are: