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Auditorium aims to get a grip on rising costs

SARAH ELIZABETH BROWN - THE CHRONICLE-JOURNAL

December 10, 2007, 8:52 pm

In the face of rising costs and four straight years of dipping into savings, the Thunder Bay Community Auditorium is looking for a naming sponsor.

Like the Air Canada Centre or MTS Centre in Winnipeg named after the Manitoba Telephone Service, it‘s not a new idea to name major arenas or performing arts facilities, general manager Bob Halvorsen
said Monday.

After bandying the idea around for two or three years, the auditorium board is placing ads in newspapers – including the Globe and Mail – and on its website. So far, they‘re seeking expressions of interest and not formal proposals, Halvorsen said. “We‘re just testing the water.” Halvorsen said he‘s had two companies express tentative interest, even before the ads hit papers. “We‘ve raised the auditorium to a height where we think it‘s marketable,” said Halvorsen. The building hosts 150,000 people each year at 150 events. A naming sponsor would get its name on the building, tickets, advertising and other promotional material, but wouldn‘t likely have a say on programming, said Halvorsen.

The auditorium board would have to approve any deal before it went to city council for final approval.
Though the auditorium is run by its board, the city owns the building and subsidizes the operation $475,000 annually.

At one time, the city pitched in a high of $1 million per year, about one-third of the annual $3-million to $3.5-million budget, Halvorsen said. Over the last six years, the city‘s subsidy falls by $25,000 each year. It will plateau next year at $450,000. As costs continue to rise and money from the city is cut back, the board has had to dip into its foundation fund four years running to pay the bills. The first year, they dipped in for $20,000. Last year, that was up to about $90,000. It‘s not a large amount, but it‘s
growing, Halvorsen said. “Anything we can do to become more self-sufficient and take some of the burden off the city and taxpayers is obviously something we want to do,” he said.

Florence Johnston, along with her late husband Dr. Charles Johnston, played a significant role in the campaign to get the auditorum built, an effort that involved significant fundraising. She welcomes the idea of a naming sponsor to make the facility self-sufficient. “The auditorium now has a marvelous set of programs,” she said. “It‘s being well run but it‘s very expensive to run.”

The right corporate sponsor or individual providing the right amount of money could help the auditorium become independently-operated, removing the need to go to the city for money. Halvorsen said though it‘s not up to him, he‘d like to see “Community Auditorium” stay in the facility‘s name. The board will have to contend with concerns that giving the facility a corporate sponsor‘s name, which involved much
community fundraising to get built, would be viewed poorly in the city. “My personal take on it is that we‘re not trying to do anything to take away from anyone‘s ownership of the building,” said Halvorsen. “We‘re trying to come up with an idea that they‘re not paying as much to support it. “Everybody‘s got a say in this building, you‘re right,” he said. “It‘s the Community Auditorium, it‘s not Bob‘s auditorium, it‘s not the board‘s auditorium, it‘s everybody‘s, and ultimately everybody‘s thoughts and ideas need to be heard.”
He hasn‘t had any complaints yet, but said he wouldn‘t be surprised if he hears concerns about “a corporation coming in here to change the programming to more fit with the image of their company.”
A naming agreement would most likely mean just that, he said – naming the building, while the stewardship of the facility would stay where it is now.