Centre boss defends leadership
The Christchurch Arts Centre will need to consider insolvency proceedings come July if it can’t secure public funding – regardless of who is in charge.
Philip Aldridge, the Arts Centre director, defended himself and colleagues yesterday against Christchurch mayor Phil Mauger’s recent suggestion that new Arts Centre management “who can do the job” should be appointed.
Aldridge’s opportunity came during the Art Centre Trust’s speaking slot on its submission to the Christchurch City Council’s long term plan, where he and trust chairperson Murray Dickinson were given triple the amount of time to speak than community boards representing entire wards of residents.
He said it was the first opportunity the trust had to speak to councillors directly about its request for $1.83 million in annual funding – a request that is expected to be backed by thousands of other submitters to the plan.
Aldridge said the Arts Centre was a success story of the Christchurch rebuild, even featuring in a 2022 book about cultural districts from around the world.
He said the current leadership had delivered the largest restoration of buildings in the country “ever, on time, and on budget”.
“We bring international recognition to the city. Please don’t inadvertently destroy it.”
Dickinson told councillors that even the council-commissioned analysis by Deloitte (which the council has refused to make public, but which the trust obtained in part under official information laws) sided with the trust, in saying it had “rigorously” cut costs in recent years.
He said salaries were set with the assistance of an external adviser, and, if anything, were below market rate.
When pressed by councillor Sam MacDonald on what the absolute minimum amount of money was to stop insolvency proceedings come July, Dickinson said it was about $900,000 – about the cost of projected operating losses for the year.
Dickinson said the trust was open to delaying the onset of public funding for two years to keep pressure off rates rises – and to use money from its reserves in the meantime – but it would only work if the council promised to back pay the trust later.
Aldridge said that if the trust folded, the council would need to take over the centre and run it, potentially at a higher cost. He said this wasn’t a threat, but fact. Aldridge also said he wanted to correct the record on how much the centre’s creative programme cost.
John Filsell, the council’s head of community support and partnerships, told councillors at a public briefing on Tuesday it cost $800,000 annually. However, Aldridge said its arts programme was $200,000, with the wider creative programme including marketing, education and venues programming.
Aldridge also rejected suggestions that the Arts Centre could find savings in reviewing staff costs, suggesting that, if anything, its senior managers were underpaid when compared to the salaries of council employees.
In the trust’s written submission, it compared its costs to the Canterbury Museum, which employed 77.5 fulltime-equivalent staff at a cost of $6.8m, compared to the Arts Centre’s 24 fulltime-equivalents at $1.76m.
Dickinson said it had been asked to consider putting the creative programme on hold, but it didn’t stack up in a cost-benefit analysis, because it was what attracted tenants, sponsorships, grants and donations.