Your recent editorial casting doubt on the affordability of our city building a performing arts centre was timely in that another mega project will soon come up for a decision at City Hall. An estimated cost of $50 million has been mentioned for the performing art centre. Then consider the decision on building a new police facility, projected to cost about $50 million as well. I have lived in this city for more than 50 years during which time the population increased from 12 thousand to about 80 thousand. So I have seen periods of exponential growth. But that is no longer the case. At this stage our population figure is in stasis.
What has happened the last decade? Population has decreased for a number of reasons: the forest industry being hit by beetle kill, lower demand and unfavourable U.S. regulations; an aging population having fewer children, and many choosing to retire away from our city; and a failure to attract and retain immigrants when compared to previous decades. Fortunately, we have had growth in the education, health care, transportation and retail sectors to offset most of the population decline. But the fact remains that for a lengthy period we have not had net growth. Looking forward, the prevailing anti-industry, anti-development mindset of many administrators, academics, environmentalists and First Nations leaders does not bode well for population growth either.
What has to be brought home to our mayor and council is that we can not go on pretending that we are in a growth mode when we aren't. The police do need a better facility but not a Taj Mahal as is being planned. Why not renovate the existing building and expand it within the same block to adjacent properties? The local arts community can not afford to use a grandiose new facility and it would sit empty most of the time costing taxpayers half a million or more every year just to stay open. Instead ways must be found for the arts community to exist within available means. Could municipal productivity be improved and some of the resulting savings be used to increase grants to deserving organizations?
The city should concentrate on maintaining what we have and only make affordable improvements which can be sustained by minimal tax increases. Hopefully Council will face reality and not mortgage us into poverty.
Dag Westgaard
Prince George
