Penticton Art Gallery
Posted: Oct 5th, 2017, 1:01 pm
I came across this article http://www.pentictonwesternnews.com/news/city-needs-30-million-solution-for-aging-facilities/ from 2016 but with the discussion of the Oxbow RV lease it brings up some interesting points to discuss. What exactly should the city be heavily subsidizing?
From the article "The art gallery building is owned by the Art Gallery Society, not the city. Jakubeit explained that the society’s lease on the land runs out in 2019, and if it is not renewed, ownership of the building will transfer to the city, noting the value of the lease was just five dollars for the 20-year term.
The mayor said. in his personal opinion, moving the art gallery is low on the priority list, however, its functionality is not enhanced by its location.
“It is a building on the water that basically has no windows. It doesn’t need to be on the water, if you don’t have windows looking out to the water,” said Jakubeit. “We could free up that location to get something closer to market value than 20 cents a year.”"
The art gallery is in a terrible location from a visitor standpoint, if you aren't actively seeking it you wouldn't find it. They would see far more foot traffic and bring some culture to the area if the gallery was located on the first couple blocks of Main. This would also help with the cities beautification of downtown project. An art gallery is definitely more appealing than the stores and pawn shops we see now.
What is really interesting is that the lease expires in 2019. There is an opportunity for the city to generate additional revenue from a prime piece of city owned property. The city could even assign some of that revenue to assist the PAGS increased costs for a downtown location. The renewal, or lack there of, of this lease will go a long ways to determining how the city will proceed with other heavily subsidized not for profit societies in the city like the Penticton Golf and Country Club. That $1 a year lease expires in 2033 but can be renewed in 2028. This is an area where the citizens of Penticton need to be consulted before these leases are renewed.
From the article "The art gallery building is owned by the Art Gallery Society, not the city. Jakubeit explained that the society’s lease on the land runs out in 2019, and if it is not renewed, ownership of the building will transfer to the city, noting the value of the lease was just five dollars for the 20-year term.
The mayor said. in his personal opinion, moving the art gallery is low on the priority list, however, its functionality is not enhanced by its location.
“It is a building on the water that basically has no windows. It doesn’t need to be on the water, if you don’t have windows looking out to the water,” said Jakubeit. “We could free up that location to get something closer to market value than 20 cents a year.”"
The art gallery is in a terrible location from a visitor standpoint, if you aren't actively seeking it you wouldn't find it. They would see far more foot traffic and bring some culture to the area if the gallery was located on the first couple blocks of Main. This would also help with the cities beautification of downtown project. An art gallery is definitely more appealing than the stores and pawn shops we see now.
What is really interesting is that the lease expires in 2019. There is an opportunity for the city to generate additional revenue from a prime piece of city owned property. The city could even assign some of that revenue to assist the PAGS increased costs for a downtown location. The renewal, or lack there of, of this lease will go a long ways to determining how the city will proceed with other heavily subsidized not for profit societies in the city like the Penticton Golf and Country Club. That $1 a year lease expires in 2033 but can be renewed in 2028. This is an area where the citizens of Penticton need to be consulted before these leases are renewed.