The District of Coldstream has agreed to contribute more than $400,000 for the proposed Greater Vernon Cultural Centre, a project that is mired by uncertainty due to a widening funding gap.
At its last meeting Monday, Aug. 12, council authorized administration to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the Regional District of North Okanagan (RDNO) to commit to funding Coldstream's portion for the Greater Vernon Cultural Centre land purchase, an amount totalling $410,476.
The future of the project remains unsettled, with its projected cost rising by $2.8 million to a total of $44.7 million. That left an updated fundraising goal of $16.7 million, and with only $5 million raised so far, the funding gap is currently $11.7 million.
At a special meeting July 24, the Greater Vernon Advisory Committee (GVAC) chose not to to commit to a specific plan of action until staff could gather more information about the prospect of borrowing more money or using reserve funds, as well as how big the funding gap will be once some "significant" omissions in the budget are addressed, as committee member Brian Quiring pointed out at the meeting.
Tannis Nelson, RDNO manager of culture and community services, presented the committee members with three options: to seek voter approval for a third time to borrow more money to cover the shortfall; to cancel the project and look for other ways to fill infrastructure needs; or to continue with the project as is.
Nelson said staff do not recommend the third option of staying the course, as staff have "confirmed in our minds that we're not going to be able to close that gap based on our original fundraising and grant targets."
Several GVAC members suggested opening the project up to a public fundraising campaign at the July 24 meeting.
