Penticton’s dream of missing piece of cultural infrastructure still alive
The South Okanagan Performing Arts Centre Society may have cancelled its symposium for a dedicated arts and cultural venue at 99 Nanaimo Ave., but the dream remains alive.
Planned for later this month, the symposium was meant to bring together heavyweights from the arts and architecture world to plan a new centre in downtown Penticton.
But with the city land on Nanaimo Avenue held until March 2019, there’s still time to rally local and regional support for a space dedicated to the performing arts, according to SOPAC Society president Allan Markin.
“It’s a missing piece of cultural infrastructure,” said Markin. “There are lots of opportunities (for the space), other than just a 750-seat theatre.”
The new centre has been a hope of the society since 1994, and as the City of Penticton continues to grow, 99 Nanaimo Ave. seemed like the perfect space to make that dream a reality.
“The land we had set aside for us was to be the southern anchor for a cultural corridor along the creek to the art gallery. It was going to be a cultural precinct,” Markin explained. “There’s a lot of performances that just bypass us because we don’t have the stage.”
Much like the South Okanagan Events Centre, the hope was that the new SOPAC would see visitors from around not only the Okanagan, but the country, and even internationally as well.
SOPAC’s devotion to the performing arts and music saw arrangements for high-profile speakers, but with the symposium’s cancellation, these visits have been put on the back burner.
Cancelling the symposium was disappointing for Markin. With hopes of bringing visitors globally to the area, it was anticipated that the space would have helped celebrate a vibrant community’s talent in the arts, whether it be drama, music or the digitization of them.
The new centre holds personal meaning to Markin, a devoted arts fan and successful musician. His love of music, ranging from country blues to rock ’n’ roll and opera, is a passion he wants to share with the community while keeping up with modern-day trends that will attract a younger generation.
“The new initiative in the performing arts is digitization,” he said. “It’s important that we had this significant creative dimension, especially for young people to work in this industry.”
Additionally, the new development, Markin believed, would have encompassed a long-term vision of the needs of the community. Having volunteered at the Pentatstic Jazz Festival last weekend, he was enthralled with the dynamic at the event and hopes to bring this to Penticton as a feature that doesn’t just happen on a one-time basis each year.
The society will begin recharting its course at its annual general meeting Nov. 4. The venue will be announced shortly, and Markin encourages anyone with questions or who would like to join the SOPAC board, purchase a membership, or to get involved to help rally support, to contact him directly.