Heritage Park to get half of funding requested
Heritage Park stands to receive less than half the $1 million in additional funding it says is immediately needed to stem a growing financial crisis spawned by rising costs and shrinking attendance.
The city’s four-year budget plan released this week recommends the attraction receive $491,000 over four years to address its plight. The Heritage Park Society had sought $1.03 million to restore programs and services, bringing its annual operating grant to $4.1 million.
The budget report also recommends the city spend $2.2 million to replace the S.S. Moyie dock, but suggests declining a $1.9-million request to build a natural resources area interpretive centre.
The proposed 3,000-square-foot centre, sporting a $10-million price tag, would tell the stories of Alberta’s early oil and gas pioneers and today’s energy industry. In August, the province announced it would pony up $1.5 million for the project.
Heritage Park initially forecast deficits of $389,000 for 2019 and $504,000 the following year, based on its 2018 funding. It later projected a $700,000 revenue hit for 2018, based on an estimated 14 per cent decline in paid admissions and revenue losses, largely caused by the forced dry-docking of its popular S.S. Moyie paddlewheeler for floodmitigation work on the Glenmore Reservoir.
Area Coun. Jeromy Farkas said the city “owes it to Heritage Park to help them out” as he said it was council’s decisions that led, in part, to the park’s current financial situation.
“The area of the city’s responsibility is the dry-docking of the S.S. Moyie,” Farkas said.
He said that after the 2013 floods, Heritage Park built a new dock for the Moyie but due to the work on the Glenmore Reservoir, the new dock is no longer compatible with water levels.
“This work on the Glenmore Reservoir was initiated by the city and has contributed to a 20-percent reduction in visitors,” said Farkas. “Essentially, we have put them in a lurch in that their dock is no longer going to work and the city is sort of demanding them to build a new dock out of no fault of their own.”
The report also says that minimum-wage increases, the provincial carbon tax, declining corporate sponsorships and road construction have all contributed to revenue declines and reductions in attendance in recent years.
In September, Heritage Park CEO Alida Visbach told council the park is at “the limit of what can be taken away without serious risks to customer satisfaction, reputation and relevance, not to mention the physical condition of our priceless historical assets.”
“We have been reducing costs and hours and staff for three years, but are struggling to keep up to increases. We are not able to simply charge more at the gate as we already face rate resistance. Our next option is to cut even more programming, but this will lead to lower attendance and lower overall revenues.”
Visbach was not available for comment Saturday.
Farkas, who has been a vocal critic of the way city council spends money, said he’s heard from constituents who say that if council is going to fund areas of arts and culture, “it’s important to tell Calgary’s story.”
“Why does so much of the public art money have to be spent on weird stuff on the side of a highway? Why not invest in things that kids can see, touch and experience?” said Farkas.
“I would say that I’m hearing from my residents that there’s such value in things like Heritage Park and that it helps remember Canada’s rich history and the people that built our city.”
Council will have to decide during upcoming budget deliberations whether to support the recommended additional $491,000 in base operating funding over four years, which the report said would still lead to funding gaps and longterm financial difficulties, or go another route.
Two other options include: A further $384,000 in funding for 2019, in addition to the $491,000 increase over four years. “While this is not as high as the $1 million proposed by the society, it will support financially sustainable operations,” the report states.
Approve the $1 million increase to the society’s base operating grant for 2019.
Farkas is not ready to commit to supporting one option over another justyet.
“I need to ask administration more questions in terms of how they arrived at that number (of $419,000). It’s obviously lower than what Heritage Park has asked for, but I need to make sure we’re balancing the needs of the city overall.”