"Replacing the outdated Kelowna Community Theatre is urgent”

The City of Kelowna has invited consultants to step forward with expressions of interest in conducting a study on the financial aspects of building a new performing arts centre.

“We’re absolutely delighted about this development, because it signals that the City is serious about seeing this essential project move forward,” said Patricia Ainslie, founding president of Citizens for a New Performing Arts Centre in Kelowna. “This is an extremely important and promising step.”

The volunteer group, known informally as Friends of KPAC, is dedicated to rallying broad-based support for the replacement of the Kelowna Community Theatre by a larger, more modern facility that would better meet the needs of the Central Okanagan.

The group hopes to see the new facility in place by 2026.

The City has previously set aside up to $100,000 to examine the funding and related issues associated with building a new performing arts centre.

Friends of KPAC, backed by leading cultural and other organizations in the Kelowna area, have been calling for a contemporary performing arts space that would keep pace with the city’s growth and dynamism.

“Replacing the outdated Kelowna Community Theatre is urgent,” Ainslie added, “so we encourage the City to move forward with its feasibility study at the earliest possible date.”