The Dekker Centre for the Performing Arts has put in its budget request for 2020, just ahead of budget deliberations.
Dekker Centre General Manager Kali Weber made her request at Monday’s council meeting. She requested the annual operating grant to the Dekker Centre be maintained at $235,000.
She also requested a special occasion exemption from their lease agreement with the city. Right now their agreement includes a $2 ticketing remittance from the Dekker Centre to the city.
Weber requested the remittance be excluded from all Dekker Centre ticketed fundraising events.
The events are being held as part of a “strategic change,” as Weber called it, designed to turn around the financial fortunes of the Dekker Centre. The organization had reported a deficit when Weber presented to council in June, and she pledged an increased focus on fundraising as one way to turn it around.
Monday, Weber pointed to three confirmed fundraising events on the calendar this season. One is a fundraising blitz where the Dekker Centre will go to the community seeking $100 donations from the local business community and from individuals.
Two others would be ticketed events for which the remittance exemption would apply. One event planned for Dec. 7 is “Saturday Morning Cartoons,” aimed at families. The Dec. 7 event is Christmas-themed and would include a lineup of cartoons including A Charlie Brown Christmas, Frosty the Snowman and Garfield.
Tickets are $5 and include all-you-can-eat cereal, coffee and juice, and there are tentative plans for more “Saturday Morning Cartoons” events.
The other event scheduled is Battlefords Shines, billed as an annual showcase of local talent in the region. Tickets for that show will be $75. Weber also indicated a fourth event will be on the schedule, but details are not confirmed.
Weber also indicated efforts to diversify the programming lineup at the Dekker Centre, including a directive of more shows for everyone, were having the desired effect.
She reported ticket sales were up year-to-year by 134 per cent from June to October 2019. Of the five shows presented so far, two were sold out: George Canyon and Bombargo. Weber also noted there has been a sharp increase in single-ticket buyers.
“The Dekker Centre’s goal is to be financially sustainable,” said Weber.
“We believe that by programming the lineup that appeals to all members of our community, by promoting that lineup with creative yet effective marketing, and by continuing to look to ways to engage our community, as we are a community operated facility, we will be able to provide high quality entertainment while maintaining a fiscally responsible budget.”
The next step for the Dekker Centre’s budget request will be consideration in the 2020 budget, with budget deliberations set to begin Dec. 2.
