The city’s CBC outlet is closer to reality now that the broadcaster has hired Plainsman Construction to do a commercial alteration at the former Bank of Montreal building.

The permit, issued April 12, is valued at $45,000 and requests that office partitions and walls be built on the ground floor of the downtown building.

City building inspector Kundan Bubbar said Friday the renovations will create a small office with a lunchroom and accessible washroom.

Bubbar said the permit application came from Plainsman, not the CBC. He doesn’t know who the property’s leaseholder is.

Plainsman president Jim Thompson wouldn’t comment on the specifics of his contract other than that the permit was filed before last month’s federal budget came down, slashing the CBC’s funding by about 10 per cent.

“I’m not sure if they’re going to go ahead or not,” Thompson told The Daily News. “I think that permit was taken out before they decided to put things on hold.”

The CBC announced earlier this month that expansion into Kamloops would be delayed six months. The broadcaster also said it expected to lay off more than 650 people, shutter bureaus in Africa and South America and that fans could expect fewer new TV shows and more ads on radio.

CBC spokesman Chuck Thompson said the Kamloops outlet will be at the Victoria Street location.

And he said the CBC still intends to begin broadcasting within the city some time this fall. An exact date hasn’t been set.

Pam Astbury of Save Our CBC Kamloops said the downtown location is perfect.

“I love where they’ve picked. It’s a wonderful location,” she said. “It’s very tasteful.”

With a headquarters selected, there’s little doubt in Astbury’s mind that the project will go ahead, she said.

Meanwhile, a reporter/editor position with CBC Radio in Kamloops was posted on the website Media Job Search Canada on Friday.