Just two months ago, the questions and the rumours swirled.
Would the Okanagan School of the Arts leave its headquarters of nearly a decade, downtown Penticton's Shatford Centre? Would it in fact disband completely? And what had caused the organization, which debuted some 60 years ago, to fall into such an apparently unsalvageable state of disrepair?
As it turned out, headlines suggesting the OSA had already dissolved proved to be conjecture. Still, it took a last-minute funding injection from the City of Penticton just prior to a key, and emotional, board meeting on March 21 to keep the OSA in its Shatford Centre home - at least through to the end of its financial year, in September of 2019.
Fast forward to today, and a flurry of announcements and news that would seem to suggest the School has potentially turned the corner.
For starters, the OSA board has a new president. Keith MacIntyre, CEO of Penticton-based Big Bear Software Inc and an outspoken board member since he signed on in November of last year, was elected to the position at the most recent board meeting on May 16.
At that same meeting, current president Robin Robertson announced her resignation. Georgia Krebs remained in her vice president role, as did Karen Collins as secretary and Nathan Grant as treasurer.
MacIntyre appears to be the fresh voice the organization needs. And as PentictonNow speculated in March of this year, he's also making a major corporate commitment to the organization, and to Shatford.
"I'm moving my company in there as an anchor tenant," he told PentictonNow this afternoon. "We'll start the move next week."
"My employees are really excited about it. One of my employees went to high school there. We're excited to be a part of building the culture inside Shatford. And me being there day to day, I can really understand what the building is, and how we can turn it into the thriving community jewel we all know it can be."
When he spoke with us in March, just after the city had granted the OSA its $47,000 lifeline, MacIntyre seemed determined.
"We now have the operating capital to survive the next six months, which gives us the chance to execute our business plan and work toward capital improvements and make this organization the best it can be. There are fantastic ideas in the community, so we want to make sure we hear those ideas."
"What it should be is a good balance of different types of people here so we can get this building thriving. Getting some energy back into it."
And now it's up to the OSA governing body to follow through on its new business plan and revenue model, which, says MacIntyre, "is a balance. It's a balance of long-term tenants and short-term rentals and programming."
"The theory is that if we get three or four anchor tenants in there, that kind of basically covers our expenses so we're not relying on grants to operate, and allows us to be able to offer the services we want."
A press release dated today thanks "our members and the community for their patience over the last several months as we have taken a step back and worked together on a plan that will ensure success. We will be engaging our members more in the coming months, gathering feedback from the community, and looking for help from volunteers. The building is old and has some challenges, so we will be looking for fundraising help as well."
It also cites current tenants such as the IdeaForge Maker Space and the Anomaly House of Art, and goes on to say, "We are looking for small businesses that want to help grow the community in the Shatford Centre and help bring life to the building during the day. We also have a variety of rooms for short term rentals for the hour, part of the day, or the full day."
And finally, it says the OSA is currently on the prowl for a "full time Executive Director/General Manager and a part time Operations Coordinator." Official job postings will apparently appear shortly at the Shatford Centre website, and in the meantime resumes can be emailed to [email protected].
According to MacIntyre, "There's a lot of hope and a lot of excitement. I've been talking to the community and city staff, and everybody is really excited."
Time will tell if today's news and all that excitement - and the relocation of MacIntyre's business - gives the OSA the jumpstart into the future it so urgently needs.
