Overheating kitchen needs $250K in repairs

The Remai Modern art gallery wants $250,000 to fix a problem with its exhaust system that causes the restaurant kitchen to overheat, creating what a former gallery executive called a “health and safety concern.”

Celene Anger, the museum’s former interim chief operating officer, told city councillors on Monday that the problem has been ongoing since the gallery opened to the public three years ago.

The exhaust system problem results in the kitchen reaching temperatures of 35 C, said Anger, who was seconded to the gallery but now serves as the City of Saskatoon’s chief strategy and transformation officer.

“This has been an ongoing struggle. Facilities has tried to come up with some lower-cost solutions (and have) not been able to do that,” Anger told city council’s governance and priorities committee on Monday. “The kitchen has been shut down twice in the last six months due to this excessive temperature. Therefore the restaurant has been unable to produce the revenue that is part of their business model,” she added.

The art gallery submitted its request for money to the committee, which is tasked with allocating $12.1 million in capital funding freed up by the arrival of cash from the province’s Municipal Economic Enhancement Program.

The request appeared to surprise some city councillors.

“This opportunity with (MEEP) is quite recent, so if things at the Remai are that dire and the need to repair it so urgent, what is the plan to repair it?” Coun. Randy Donauer asked.

Coun. Darren Hill pressed for details about the exhaust system’s

The kitchen has been shut down twice in the last six months due to this excessive temperature.

installation, warranty, who is at fault for the problem and any potential litigation, saying “I can’t believe we’re talking about this without everything in front of us.”

Representatives from the Remai Modern were not on hand to answer councillors’ questions; it was noted during the meeting that Anger, who has experience with the museum, did her best to provide clarity.

She told the committee the gallery is still “trying to figure out” how to pay for the repairs while reducing the menu in some cases to soup and sandwich-type fare as an interim solution to keep the restaurant going.

Coun. Mairin Loewen, who sits on the Remai Modern’s board of directors, described the situation as “less than ideal,” and noted the repairs would not have been fully funded had MEEP not become available.

In a statement, the Remai Modern’s interim chief executive, Lynn Mcmaster, said the kitchen is “small and requires additional airflow,” and the money would pay for a new air unit and exhaust fans.

Mcmaster said the improvements were included in the 202021 budget cycle approved late last year, and the museum opted to pursue MEEP dollars “to mitigate financial challenges going into 2021.”

The Remai Modern had a difficult 2019, with sagging attendance and membership sales leading to in a $259,000 year-end deficit. The pandemic is unlikely to make this year easier.

The committee deferred the decision on whether to allocate MEEP funds to the museum until its next meeting.

The museum will be able to reopen on June 29.