More than two years after printing its final issue, the Kamloops Daily News is still making headlines.
Since the newspaper closed in January 2014 after publishing in the community for more than 80 years, the future of its former headquarters has been a hot topic in the city of 85,000 people. Tuesday, it was the subject of a closed-door city council meeting.
The 60,000-square-foot site was purchased by the city in August 2014 for $4.8 million, with initial plans to demolish the existing two-storey 1956 building (at an estimated cost of $1 million to $1.5 million for demolition and asbestos abatement) to make room for a 200-stall parking lot.
That plan was put on hold when the property was identified as a possible site for a performing arts centre, but that concept was defeated in a November referendum.
In January, council voted unanimously to allow community groups and developers to make pitches for the future of the vacant building, at the corner of Seymour Street and Fourth Avenue in downtown Kamloops. Last month, the city released a Request For Information, seeking “to determine private sector interest in partnering with the City or other options” for the redevelopment of the property.
The RFI attracted a total of nine proposals — a split between private development interests and community groups, said Mayor Peter Milobar.
“We were pretty fortunate there was a wide variety of proposals,” Milobar said.
The nine proposals were discussed at Tuesday’s in-camera meeting, Milobar said, but details of the proposals will not be made public while council decides how to proceed.
The future of the empty property, once the site of a Hudson’s Bay Company department store, has generated a “tremendous amount of interest” in town, said Mel Rothenburger, former editor of the Daily News and one-time mayor of Kamloops.
“It’s a common topic of discussion at the coffee shops,” said Rothenburger, who now writes about civic issues for News Kamloops. The historic building “sticks out like a sore thumb now that it’s empty,” he said.
“To tear down that building and put in parking, even on a temporary basis, would be a shame,” Rothenburger said. “It’s prime downtown real estate. It’s a great location.”
