If the Centre in the Square’s $1.5-million 2013 deficit becomes a common occurrence, Kitchener’s mayor says, something will have to change.
“It’s too high. Continual deficits at that level (are) not sustainable,” Carl Zehr said Friday.
In an email to CTV News, Centre in the Square board chair Marcus Shantz said a number of factors contributed to the losses, including programming which didn’t attract as many ticket-buyers as expected.
“In addition, we were hit with unexpected and substantial bills for the facilities that could not be ignored,” he said.
Other factors cited by Shantz include losses from the prior year’s programming, maintenance work and restructuting costs.
Centre in the Square has recently adopted a strategy of booking more high-profile acts – one that Zehr says has worked, albeit with an increase in costs.
A consultant’s report on Centre in the Square’s operations is expected to be presented to city councillors in late August.
Also in that report is a look at the relationship between the facility and the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, which often books its dates at Centre in the Square far in advance.
“Quite often, those are the best nights for other shows that may be more revenue-generating than the symphony,” Zehr said.
