‘WE NEED HELP’
Lose $425B to pandemic
Coronavirus has wreaked “economic havoc” on the state’s cultural institutions to the tune of nearly a half-billion dollars and without a bailout, industry leaders warn the ripple effects could threaten the state’s recovery.
“We need help,” P. Eric Krauss, executive vice president of the New England Aquarium, said during a virtual hearing with lawmakers on Wednesday.
The doors to Boston’s aquarium — as with most of the region’s cultural institutions — closed to the public 18 weeks ago, shutting off its revenue. But with 20,000 animals living inside, Krauss said the aquarium is hemorrhaging $2.6 million a month as expenses pile up.
Collectively Massachusetts’ cultural nonprofits have lost $425 million in revenue and slashed 17,000 jobs since the onset of the COVID19 closures, according to a recent Mass Cultural Council survey of 329 organizations.
“It is an understatement to say that no one was prepared for COVID-19, or the economic havoc COVID-related social distancing measures and closures would wreak on our economy,” said David Slatery, acting executive director for the Mass Cultural Council.
So far nonprofit cultural organizations have received about $100.2 million in federal relief, but it still leaves the industry on the hook for hundreds of millions.
“We know it’s staggering. We know it’s dire. We urge you to consider it. Consider the negative and long-lasting economic impacts of not making a robust public investment in arts and culture,” Bethann Steiner of Mass Cultural Council said.
An amendment in the supplemental budget includes a $2 million relief fund for small cultural nonprofits, but it would be available only to organizations of up to 25 employees. It’s expected to hit the governor’s desk this week. Another bill aims for a $75 million relief fund, but it’s o ne of many bills drawing on an increasingly shrinking pot of cash as the state faces budget woes of its own.
The doors to cultural institutions large and small are slowly starting to reopen, but it is to vastly lower numbers and in vastly changed spaces.
“I think that many of us will not survive this, to be frank,” said Troy Siebels, president and CEO of the Hanover Theater for the Performing Arts in Worcester. The venue, which shows touring Broadway productions, has furloughed all its employees and is running out of PPP funding. With Broadway on pause until at least January, Siebels says his venue is facing a $5 million operating loss.
Cultural institutions generate $877 million in spending annually at restaurants, retail and other businesses. Without them, “This prolonged closure of our sector will endanger our ability to deliver the kind of economic recovery the commonwealth needs,” said Emily Ruddock, executive director at MassCreative.