Prince Rupert Special Events Society has a temporary home

The Special Events Society is still hoping to find new headquarters in the downtown core, but for the moment have settled on the Jim Ciccone Civic Centre as a temporary space.

Bev Killbery, president of the Prince Rupert Special Events, said the volunteer organization will be moving to the civic centre at the end of the month.

At a November council meeting, the Prince Rupert Special Events Society and the Arts Council requested that the city step up their aid in the search for new headquarters following a request that both groups vacate City Hall.

Killbery said the Arts Council has taken a look at the civic centre’s space but will make an official decision at their upcoming board meeting.

“It’s not an ideal spot for either of us but it will work in the meantime. Things will be fine. We’ll just have to wait and see,” she said.

The city is footing the bill for the space and will also be moving the organization. City Hall will house some of their equipment and materials for storage.

Veronika Stewart, communication manager for the City of Prince Rupert, said staff had been actively seeking an appropriate space for Special Events since providing the notice to vacate City Hall in 2019.

“The space the society decided on was mentioned early on in the search for an alternate location as well as storage at City Hall for certain items. Surety around storage as well as access were required by the Society before a decision could be made. We are happy to be able to support Special Events with an alternative central community space that they are now confident suits their needs,” Stewart said.

Killbery said she foresees Special Events staying at the Civic Centre for a year, maximum two. Right now their main priority is to get through Children’s Fest and their Annual General Meeting taking place in March.

In November, Special Events stated that they wanted to stay in the downtown core because they are the public face of Prince Rupert; however, rent would have added an additional $16,000-$24,000 to their yearly expenses.

“I appreciate everyone that reached out to us and had places that we could maybe look into. We’re hoping that down the road that we can find a place that’s in the downtown core, but we will just have to wait and see,” Killbery said.

Jenna Cocullo | Journalist

Jenna Cocullo