Image: SOPAC
New life is being breathed into the dream that is the South Okanagan Performing Arts Centre.
Penticton city council voted Tuesday to grant the SOPAC society $5,000 to host a “workshop” in the fall to explore the idea, involving meetings between arts groups in the South Okanagan and Similkameen.
SOPAC Society board member Cal Meiklejohn told council they are “starting from scratch” on the long-talked about idea. The SOPAC society has been around since 1997.
“The South Okanagan Performing Arts Centre people have an image. I would ask everybody … to totally ignore any images. This is a ground work operation. We don’t know what kind of facility, if any, will come out of this process,” Meiklejohn said.
The workshop, slated for October, will cost $15,000 to host. The group will be approaching the RDOS later in the week for an additional $5,000, while the society covers the rest.
City council voted 6-1 in favour of providing the funding. Coun. Campbell Watt was opposed, saying he could not support funding something at such a conceptual stage. Other councillors also indicated this was the last chance for the SOPAC group and voiced a desire to put the issue to bed one way or another.
The empty lot at the corner of Ellis and Nanaimo has long been earmarked for a performing arts centre. The city agreed earlier this year to hold on to the site pending the creation of an area development plan for the whole Ellis corridor.
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