A one-off grant of $24,000 was required by the Southern Sinfonia to cover the difference in venue hire costs between the Dunedin Town Hall, which was unavailable until early next year while it was being redeveloped, and the Regent Theatre, city councillors heard yesterday.
Sinfonia president Stephen Christensen said a civic grant of $83,300 was included in the council's draft budget for next year, and the Sinfonia was grateful for that.
However, on top of that, he asked for just over $1000 to cover inflation increases, $5000 to cover the shortfall of the cost of putting on the annual Proms event after events grants were capped at $5000, and the $24,000 to hold six concerts at the Regent Theatre.
Each hire of the Regent Theatre cost $4000 more than the Town Hall hire charge and the Sinfonia was not able to recoup the additional costs through ticket prices or sponsorship, he said.
"We just have this interim problem where we will really need your help."
He appreciated the Regent had its own funding challenges and suggested there would actually be a bit of a "money-go-round" aspect to the request, as some of the money would be returned to the council via the Regent.
A separate written submission from Sarah Anderson, from the Otago Theatre Trust/Regent Theatre, while not asking for any significant extra funding to the $59,200 already indicated in the council's budget for the theatre, urged councillors to revisit soon the financial relationship between the council and the theatre, which was largely reliant on the work of volunteers and which, she said, struggling to meet its operational costs.
Ms Anderson noted the theatre received less council funding than similar theatres in the country did from their local councils and that its recent redevelopment had also resulted in increased maintenance and management costs.
