Prince George Regional Performing Arts Centre Society public relations committee chair Clive Keen said there's a need to raise awareness of the proposed centre in the city.
"There's not really wide-spread understanding of what the Performing Arts Centre is all about," said Keen. "We've got a gaping great hole in our provision. People say 'Hang on, we have one!'"
The Prince George Playhouse has 300 seats and the CN Centre has 4,000 to 6,000 seats that provide a venue for entertainers, Keen said.
"There really is a massive gap in the crucial spot in the middle," he said. "Bringing in nearly all professional entertainers requires about an 800-seater and that's where bringing in a professional entertainer has to be in order to be economical."
Vanier Hall, a venue belonging to School District 57, has 800 seats but Keen said it leaves people wanting.
"It lacks most of the things you need to get people out," said Keen. "It doesn't have the ambiance, the lighting, the sound and there's not even enough toilets available. We want to be the entertainment capital of the north of the province and we're not. We're missing out on a terrific amount of activity. So we get performance in the doldrums as a result of the absence of decent facilities."
The Performing Arts Centre would have an 800-seat theatre as well two other spaces so that there would be something happening there all the time, Keen added.
"Another great thing with building a Performing Arts Centre is it would be an absolute key to downtown transformation," he said. "We have to do something about downtown. The Performing Arts Centre would be an incredible catalyst to convert the place to be a real destination we can be proud of."
The society hopes the new facility will be in place in time for the 2015 Canada Winter Games in order to demonstrate that Prince George is a first-class arts and sports community.
The Prince George Regional Performing Arts Centre Society is a non-profit organization established 2007. The society's mandate is to establish a flexible, modern performing arts and entertainment venue that will attract diverse performing artists and support community arts organizations serving both amateur and professional performers.
