Dear Editor:
The Wharton Street papers are signed, but where are the details?
What is the value of the land, and what will the city get for it?
When the projects are completed, who will own the land, the buildings, and the cultural centre? Will there be leases involved, and if so, what are the terms, and for how long?
$2.8 million for the cultural centre, $2.1 million for a museum, and $1.0 million for a ‘service centre.’ That is $5.9 million. How many more millions for the library?
That is a huge amount of money for city taxpayers, and is not the right thing to do at a time when we are facing a potential global financial collapse.
The cultural centre defines the downtown of any city. Libraries and museums could be part of that centre.
To ensure the integrity of the centre is not compromised, it must be a free standing structure, owned and operated by the city, and citizens and visitors alike must have unfettered access to this important centre.
To disperse these public components into separate commercial building structures with an unpredictable make-up of tenants defies logic.
Another disturbing part about the proposed development is the fact that it is projected to become several stories higher than any other building downtown. Any change or development that materially changes the character of our community must have the undisputed support of the citizens.
That support will have to be expressed by means of a binding referendum.
Andy Thomsen
Summerland
