Art Gallery and Museum

[bob vernon]

The consultant hired by the city has reported back. His estimates for the cost of the new art gallery is $13.3 million and for the museum $21.6 million. Does anybody think that the electorate would pass money bylaws for these amounts?

Additionally, an engineering consultant is looking at the old Civic arena and whether it should be maintained or a new sheet of ice built at either Priest Valley arena or Kal Tire Place. The provincial election was last spring and with a provincial election about 4 years away, there won't be any help coming from there in financing any of these projects.

I believe that Vernon should have done some of these projects already, but we can't blame the past, we can only deal with what we have now. It's going to be tough to get any of these community improvements done.

I can see the "rant" letters in the paper already.

[Dizzy1]

I believe that Vernon should have done some of these projects already, but we can't blame the past, we can only deal with what we have now. It's going to be tough to get any of these community improvements done.

I can see the "rant" letters in the paper already.

But isn't that really one of the main problems in Vernon? Everytime there is something that needs to get done, the people around here have to get all bent out of shape about it and oppose it left, right and center ... meanwhile, every year the project gets delayed, the price goes up and more money is wasted on study after study after study until eventually the inevitable gets built with the shortest foresight possible. Welcome to Vernon.

[Hassel99]

I really don't want to spend $35mm for this. I mean we just overpaid for an underused library. Oh wait I can get every single book I want online for free? why would anyone ever need to go to a Library, hell even the actual library has online checkouts. Money spent on bricks and land is a huge waste IMO.

No one Is going to plan a destination to Vernon to see art or a museum. With so many vacancies in town currently it just does not make sense to me to build new when we could lease/buy renovate existing property for much cheaper.

[Dizzy1]

I really don't want to spend $35mm for this. I mean we just overpaid for an underused library. Oh wait I can get every single book I want online for free? why would anyone ever need to go to a Library, hell even the actual library has online checkouts. Money spent on bricks and land is a huge waste IMO.

No one Is going to plan a destination to Vernon to see art or a museum. With so many vacancies in town currently it just does not make sense to me to build new when we could lease/buy renovate existing property for much cheaper.

Lots of people like to go to the library ... its not always about online convience ... sometimes its about a place for the community to go and socialize, hold group meetings, school field trips etc. I'd rather see money spent on the mueseum/art gallery as opposed to yet another sports venue.

[coldfinger]

wow -- what breathtaking ignorance from hassel99!

The Vernon library is NOT underused -- it has the highest circulation in the Okanagan Regional Library system.
You CANNOT get every book you want online for free. Not every book has been digitized.
Most readers prefer hard-copy books to electronic versions. This is especially true for readers of non-fiction.
Also, don't forget the pleasure of just browsing through the shelves of the library, and stumbling across a treasure.

And, as Dizzy1 points out, the library isn't just a place to get books from -- it's a community place.

[Hassel99]

Sorry i offended you so much with my opinion !

I have asked around, i do not know one person in town who has checked a single book out of the physical library. The handful of of folks who said they did use it but only in an online capacity.

Registration of library users (Okanagan wide) has dropped from 2008-2012 from 208,496 to 169,101. While ate the same time, online logins have grown from 578,651 to 753,098

Circulation in Vernon is up a whole 1.66% since 2011. All this money for 1.66% total increase? Did you know the annual budget for the Library is upwards of $800k a year.


I am all for updating and modernization, but there has to be a better use of tax payer dollars to do these things.

Can we not have a new or updated Art Gallery and Museum for less than $35mm? What was the Library $13mm? and almost a million dollars a year to run? That does not even take into consideration that the city sold the land for $10. Think of what other great things we could do with a million dollars in our little city to help people.

To keep this in perspective, the annual budget for the city of Vernon is only $60mm and has been running at a loss in recent years.

Anyone else find it ironic that the current art gallery got flooded today due to break down in the citys water infrastructure. Sure we can spend cash on art, but should we not make sure our aging infrastructure is taken care of first?

Think about how you prioritize spending in your house, how much do you spend on the Arts? what would you say if your spouse wanted to borrow over 1/2 of your annual salary to spend on art and culture. How would you respond?

I am all for progress outside of sports arenas, but i think we need to be more fiscally responsible when we do it.

[Dizzy1]

I agree, our infrastructure does need a lot of work ... but we still have to give the community places to enjoy, and that even means stuff that you and I may not enjoy and use :) It would just be more cost effective to stop holding study after study and referendum and referendum ... just get 'er dun! And build it in a location and in a structure that will last for years to come ... don't just keep band aiding things like so many Vernon and Coldstream councilers do.

[gordon_as]

I haven't been to the museum since I was a kid , however , I do think that it is cool to be able to see our history. As a taxpayer though , I think that an existing building should be renovated to house the Museum.
The Art gallery , on the other hand is a waste of space IMHO , for many reasons. A referendum for funds for a new home for the museum loses it slim chance of passing simply by being associated with the art gallery. As a pair , the referendum has 0 % chance of passing.

[Verminator]

Vernon needs to seriously re-assess it's priorities. Some very neglected basics need to be dealt with before we even think about luxuries like a new art gallery and museum, like the fact that there are no sidewalks along most of PV Road. Pedestrians are forced to walk on a very busy roadway often with little room to spare, but that's not as urgent an issue? What about the rest of the aging infrastructure in this town? The powers that be in Vernon always wait until someone gets killed before they act on things that are really important and can negatively affect people's lives. The traffic lights at 20th St and 48th Ave are just one example of that sad fact. At any rate, there's nothing wrong with the present facilities that some judicious updating can't fix.

Thanks for letting me rant.....