Ultimately deciding the sum was too great and the time too short, City of North Vancouver council opted to leave a major funding decision on the Polygon Gallery to the city’s next mayor and council.
After explaining staff costs were rising and building maintenance costs were expected to double, gallery director Reid Shier asked council to hike yearly funding from $175,000 to $400,000.
“We don’t want to choose between maintaining the building . . . and investing in our artistic program – the very thing that will draw audiences to the gallery,” Shier said. “We’re not in any peril right now, what we want to be able to do is look sustainably into the future.”
The gallery is funded through the North Vancouver Recreation and Culture Commission, which is supported by both the City and District of North Vancouver. Both Couns. Don Bell and Rod Clark asked Shier why he hadn’t petitioned the commission directly for the extra money.
A funding increase from the commission likely means “a sacrifice to somebody else,” Shier said, explaining gallery representatives had been “led to understand” an increase was beyond the commission’s measure.
In making their case to council, gallery representatives said the cost of running the 25,000-square-foot facility gobbled up the lion’s share of their $2,283,500 operating budget, leaving only 12 per cent – or approximately $280,000 – for programming.
That’s “significantly lower” than at the old Presentation House Gallery, where 27 per cent – or approximately $245,000 – of the operating budget was spent on programming, Shier said.
Shier noted that North Vancouver covers eight per cent of the Polygon Gallery’s operating budget, compared to 13 per cent for Presentation House Theatre and approximately 90 per cent for the North Vancouver Museum and Archives.
“The simple of cost of building a wall in the new building is exponentially larger than what we thought it was,” Shier said, discussing the funding shortfall.
The gallery is also facing extra hydro, maintenance and janitorial costs – in part because the facility is busier than expected, Shier said. His explanation prompted Coun. Holly Back to ask if that extra activity equalled more revenue.
“Some of our other programs like our retail store are not bringing in as much money as we had anticipated,” Shier said. Conversely, venue rentals have yielded approximately $400,000, he said.
However, Polygon is meant to be an art gallery as opposed to a rental venue, Shier explained.
His argument seemed to curry favour with Coun. Craig Keating, who warned his colleagues that turning the gallery into a wedding backdrop, “will not do anything” to attract visitors to what he called: “an important artistic and cultural institution.”
Suggesting council was at the: “fish or cut bait stage” with the gallery, Keating urged his colleagues to approve the funding request, “and not let another council have to bear the responsibility of the decisions that we’ve made.”
Bookham differed, suggesting the gallery was somewhat independent.
“They wanted to stand alone. They did not want to look for efficiencies of being part of the museum and the theatre and continue the relationship that they had,” she said.
Back also supported deferral, suggesting she would like the gallery to examine ways losses might be cut and revenues increased.
“I’m really disappointed that the business plan is falling so short,” she said.
Coun. Linda Buchanan expressed the opposite position, suggesting the gallery’s business plan has been “extremely successful.”
“I will be in full support of additional funding moving forward,” she said, underlining the importance of the gallery’s position on the waterfront, particularly on Friday nights.
“If you go down there on Friday nights . . . that foot of Lonsdale between the gallery and the water feature is humming with people.”
However, foregoing Friday night venue rentals over the summer could mean a loss of about $175,000, Shier said.
While the gallery has been a fine addition to the city, Coun. Rod Clark was reluctant to authorize an extra $225,000, ultimately deciding that deferring the request would be: “the most prudent move.”
The deferral won out over the strenuous objections of outgoing Mayor Darrell Mussatto, who urged his colleagues to at least approve extra funding over one year as a form of bridge financing.
“We can save now and pay later or we can do it right,” he said.
In making his argument, Mussatto noted the city library and rec centres are: “probably 99 per cent paid for by taxpayer dollars.” By contrast, the majority of the gallery’s initial funds were raised through private donors.
The gallery will likely “start to suffer” without funding from the city, Mussatto said.
While Coun. Don Bell wondered aloud if his $200 gallery membership put him in a conflict of interest, Mussatto assured him it did not.
“It’s not a conflict of interest. Then my $1,500 donation would be a conflict of interest,” Mussatto said.
While he said he wasn’t necessarily opposed to putting more money into Polygon, Bell voted for deferral, suggesting perhaps the city shouldn’t be responsible for the entire sum.
The motion to defer passed 4-3 with Mussatto and Couns. Keating and Buchanan in opposition.
Presentation House Gallery was founded in 1976, serving as a photo gallery at Third Street and Chesterfield Avenue.
The initial funding for the new gallery was a $4-million boost from the Audain Foundation and Polygon Homes in 2014.
