The dollars and sense of our Performing Arts Centre

I see where the Barra MacNeils have had to cancel their annual Playhouse Christmas concert. They were only going to be playing to a fraction of the house anyway because of COVID, but the bursting of the Atlantic bubble killed even that.  

Rendering of the Fredericton Performing Arts Centre. This is preliminary. The design may change.

Now though, with the news over the past little while about vaccines, we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. We’re hearing that come spring, things will start returning to normal, as we start to get inoculated.  

Eventually, we will again be welcoming people into our homes. Bars and restaurants will be going full tilt again, and we’ll have live music again – at Officer’s Square and Harvest hopefully next fall. And at the Playhouse, but for how long? 

COVID has taught us that much of what we have been taking for granted, are actually the very things that are important to our quality of life. But if catching live performances at the Playhouse is part of your quality of life, as you would be well aware, the end of COVID doesn’t mean the shows are back for good.  

It was disappointing to see the recent Daily Gleaner editorial chastising City Council for approving the design phase for the Playhouse’s replacement. But while the editors of our local paper may not have an appreciation of the importance of a Performing Arts Centre to the cultural fabric of the city, for many people this is about the quality of life the city offers its residents.  

The paper says the price tag of $45 million is too much. But that’s the going rate for a quality facility that the city can be proud of and will serve us well into the future. We’re not talking grandiose here. It is mid-range for this type of project. The plan is to have the three levels of government each contribute $14 million and the community fundraising the remainder.  

But in their criticism the paper focuses on the costs only, while choosing to ignore the benefits. So I’d like to offer some up here, and strictly the financial benefits, not even considering the quality of life part, not even mentioning that you would be able to see the Barra MacNeils, or Classic Albums Live, or a symphony or ballet or the Country Music Showcase, or a Norm Foster play or whatever hot music or comedy act is touring without having to go to Moncton or Saint John to see it. No, not going to get into that but rather, just look at the financial side. 

As part of its diligence, in 2015 the Playhouse hired an economist to measure the impact of the project on the economy. It’s astounding.    

Consider the construction. It will directly and indirectly create more than 700 jobs and pump $140 million into the economy. When you consider the HST paid on building materials, and the tax paid on the profits made by the various contractors and suppliers, and the income tax paid by the workforce, the federal government will recover nearly $5 Million and the provincial government nearly $4 million. Then consider the money both levels of government will make in HST and income taxes when all those wages find their way into the local economy, circulated to local restaurants and stores, and for services. And all this just from the construction-related revenue.  

Now let’s consider after the facility is up and running. Right off the top, its very operation will be responsible for about 100 jobs, both directly employed by the facility and the many contractors, suppliers and artists who will perform there, and indirectly by the other businesses who will benefit from people’s spending when they attend events. Total spending associated with the operation is projected at over $15 Million per year. The taxes on those salaries and sales equates to more than $600,000 for the federal government and nearly  $700,000 to the provincial government. That’s every year.  

So, when the performing arts centre is built and operating for, let’s say a decade, the return to the federal and provincial governments will be about $11 Million each.  This of course continues to increase every year thereafter. With this side of the ledger considered, the expenditure doesn’t seem so bad, does it?  

So in about 10 years, the money paid up front is nearly recovered. So back to the quality of life, not a bad return on investment when you consider we would now have a thriving Performing Arts Centre well established as part of our cultural infrastructure. Think of the great shows we would have had the opportunity to see. And think as well of the economic benefits to our local economy. As Fredericton Chamber of Commerce CEO Krista Ross put in a while back “when cultural amenities and offerings are robust, our region becomes even more attractive as a place to expand and establish businesses. It will build on our existing strengths, contributing to our competitive advantage.”  

In short, it will be great for the city on many levels. Conversely, the city will be less than it is now, without it. City Council has shown great vision and astute planning by first, its strategy of planning for this expenditure years ago so it doesn’t affect current budgeting, and for moving ahead with the design stage to make the project more attractive for the funding contributions of the other levels of government.  

Disclaimer: In the interests of full transparency, I am on the board of the Fredericton Playhouse. But my interest here has just as much to do with having the option of catching some great shows without driving to another city. See, that quality of life thing again. 

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Cover photo credit: Joshua Hanson, Unsplash