What? Just when I thought things couldn’t get any crazier at City Hall, council is considering relocating the library, museum, art gallery, and even City Hall itself, to the convention centre in order to save money.
The casino is set to move out of the downtown core in 2017, so why not take everything else with it? What a great idea, but first spend millions on ‘revitalizing’ the downtown core, including a Vegas-style light show, before moving everything away.
I have what I believe to be a better idea. If the city has too many facilities then why not turn this big money-loser into a money-maker? Subdivide and sell the convention centre to a developer who is willing to convert/expand the existing facility into a hotel/convention centre complex.
The proceeds of such a sale could then be used to update the other existing public facilities, and in the process a $200,000 annual loss would be eliminated. Going forward, the city would collect taxes on the property to increase their annual revenue.
David Korinetz
Penticton