One of the biggest areas of discussion at the Greater Vernon Advisory Committee meeting on Thursday revolved around the Multi-Purpose Cultural Facility.
In May, the Regional District approved the preliminary funding strategy that proposes to use project timing to moderate the tax impact on Greater Vernon residents. The total project budget was given a cost of $40 million. This includes the pre-construction and project management costs of $3.34 million, construction costs of $29.38 million, a construction contingency of $5.78 million, and a land purchase contingency of $1.5 million.
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On Thursday, updates were provided to GVAC. They were informed that discussions with stakeholders and consultants about adjustments to the layout of the building have been discussed in detail. With only minor adjustments left to be made, the team plans to finalize the space within the next few weeks. The next step after this is looking into various sources of revenue.
Community outreach was a main topic of conversation. The proposed outreach includes presentations to community organizations as well as print and radio ads detailing where to find more information. Open houses have also been booked at the mall and are scheduled for the first Saturday in September in the hopes to catch people doing back to school shopping as well as on Oct. 6 and Oct. 13.
A more complete understanding of what the next steps entail will be available soon, once a model of the physical building is rendered.
GVAC voiced concerns about the campaign timeline, pointing out that community outreach is necessary to receive a positive result in October. They voiced concerns on Thursday that six weeks may not be enough time to engage with and receive significant support from the community.
The referendum is set for Oct. 20.
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