Kamloops This Week
The former Kamloops Daily News building will be coming down — likely at a cost of more than a million dollars, bringing the city’s cost to buy the property, demolish the building and run a failed referendum in-between to more than $6 million.
Kamloops council was to be asked on Tuesday by staff to approve awarding a demolition contract to Dakota Reclamators Ltd. for $498,000. With additional related costs — $200,000 for scope of work and contingency, $100,000 for design, project management and contract administration and $300,000 to create an interim parking lot and landscaping on the property at Seymour Street and Fourth Avenue — the total cost is pegged at $1.1 million.
The Daily News closed in January 2014.
In March of that year, the city bought the property from Glacier Media for $4.8 million.
In a November 2015 referendum, voters rejected a proposal to build a performing-arts centre on the site, with the cost of planning the vote estimated at more than $400,000.
Demolition is estimated to take 12 weeks, with the parking lot expected to be ready by the late fall, depending on weather.
If the weather does not allow for completion of the work in late fall, the parking lot will be surfaced with gravel and completed in the spring of 2018.
Funds for additional work have been added as historical building foundations have been discovered on site and will need to be removed as part of the project.
