Pandemic could cost Arts Commons $3.2M
Five resident companies will be excused from paying fees during COVID shutdown
Arts Commons will lose up to $3.2 million in revenue if its doors stay closed until August, its interim co-executive director said Wednesday.
Nevertheless, the downtown facility will waive certain fees to help out its five resident companies. Arts Commons houses the Jack Singer Concert Hall, Max Bell Theatre, Martha Cohen Theatre, Big Secret Theatre and Motel, and is home to the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, Theatre Calgary, Alberta Theatre Projects, One Yellow Rabbit and Downstage.
Colleen Dickson, the interim co-executive director and chief financial officer, says the organization calculated its losses to provide information requested by the province.
Dickson says the five resident companies will continue to pay operating costs for administration and common spaces, such as office, shops and storage, but will not have to pay for the use of venues for the remainder of the Arts Commons fiscal year.
The resident companies have a binding lease to pay fees for the venues. While the companies have business interruption insurance, Dickson says most would not cover the venue rental fees.
“That’s quite impactful for them,” Dickson says. “Theatre Calgary, for instance, will be paying $48,000 less a month. They were paying $54,000 and will now just pay for their office space, which is just over $6,000 a month. So it is significant. But they need that certainty and they need it now to understand how they are going to survive in the long term.”
Arts Commons is a non-profit organization that operates in a cityowned building on a $12-million budget. The $3.2 million in losses would obviously be a bit hit, although Dickson says some of that will be offset by a decrease in expenses since the facility is closed.
“We have all these costs that go along with the show, which go away if you’re not having a show,” she says. “So from a direct expense perspective, a portion of that just disappears. We would probably still be looking at another $2 million in savings that we will have to find.”
She says some ticket-holders have converted purchases into donations, which so far has added up to nearly $30,000. Some sponsors and vendors have also committed to helping financially through the COVID-19 pandemic. The facility also will be dipping into its accumulated surplus, Dickson says.