What happened with the Penmar?

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southy
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What happened with the Penmar?

Post by southy »

Ok I will bite - what really happened here. Good on Encore and I wish them well. But I think there are some unanswered questions with how the arts society didn't move forward with their bid. I also see the city loaned them $60K but feel they will get it back. http://www.pentictonherald.ca/news/arti ... 10e8a.html
Unfortunate as I'm sure the volunteer team of the society worked very hard.
fall
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Re: What happened with the Penmar?

Post by fall »

Comment removed, not going to bother lol.
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Hassel99
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Re: What happened with the Penmar?

Post by Hassel99 »

The article you linked seems to answer the questions you asked. They could not raise enough money.
southy
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Re: What happened with the Penmar?

Post by southy »

Hassel99 wrote:The article you linked seems to answer the questions you asked. They could not raise enough money.


Yes and no! From everything I had been reading (print and social media) it appeared the society was moving in a direction that would allow them to finalize the purchase of the building. Then out of the blue (for me anyways) the Penmar is sold to Encore. Did the society know this transaction was in the works? Was there anything else they could have done to prevent it?
I don't believe it is as black and white as "they could not raise enough money". Not trying to place any blame either - I just know how hard these volunteer people worked and it seems unfortunate the entire process unravelled the way it has.
twobits
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Re: What happened with the Penmar?

Post by twobits »

The City should have never provided any funds until other financing was secured be it by donation or accredited lender. They could have made the 60k contribution dependent on that criteria. Instead, they jumped in on a plan that while noble, was obviously lacking in community interest as evidenced by the amount of money raised. The City will never recover the whole of their investment. Some of the equipment they will apparently re purpose for other City facilities (where?) and the rest will be sold for 30 cents on the dollar.
What happened? Plain and simple the business model sucked and the property owners were tired of carrying the cost of the building with no return on their investment while a group tried to fulfill a pipe dream. The majority of the donations they received were in the 20 to 50 dollar range. The people with any pockets and an interest in the Arts took a look at the business plan and came to the conclusion that even if they got the funding to finish the reno's, they wouldn't be able to pay the utilities let alone the rent on a 500k valued piece of real estate within 12 months and it would just be another call for donations. Why throw your money away?
There is a sunny side to this failure however IMO. It will serve as a reality check to those who think Penticton taxpayers are interested in funding a 30 to 50 million dollar performing arts facility.
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pentona
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Re: What happened with the Penmar?

Post by pentona »

It doesn't surprise me that the Penmar project failed. Now they still wish to keep their dream alive apparently and yet they have to sell off assets (ie: 300+ chairs) to cover their debts. Going to be rather hard to redo things in the future without those chairs.

They would be far better off to amalgamate with Jake and the gang and work on ONE Community Arts theatre (but scale it down a LOT from what Jake wants).

We have the Shatford, the Clelland and the Penmar project - all too small to fit Pentictons needs, yet the Nanaimo Hall idea is far too pricey. We do need a decent sized theatre that can seat 600-800 but it doesn't have to be the Taj Mahal, either.
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