Agenda Index City of Vancouver

ADMINISTRATION REPORT

TO:

Standing Committee City Services & Budgets

FROM:

Director of Cultural Affairs

SUBJECT:

Vancouver Dance Foundation
Additional Capital Grant Request - Report 2 of 2

CONSIDERATION

CITY MANAGER'S COMMENTS

COUNCIL POLICY

The City has supported the creation of suitable rehearsal and production facilities for the Vancouver dance community since the 1980s. The following chronology details Council's decisions:

1989 · funded $5,000 Dance Centre Needs/Feasibility Study;
1991 · directed staff to identify City-owned properties or an amenity bonus site;
1993 · approved, subject to a land swap, a site at Nelson & Mainland;
1996 · approved an alternate City-owned site at Pacific & Granville Streets, subject to a series of conditions;

1997 · did not approve an application to amend the Sign By-law;
1998 · at the Dance Foundation's request, rescinded the previous site commitment and instead approved a Capital Grant in the amount of $900,000, also subject to conditions;
1999 · approved a heritage density bonus for the Dance Centre building at 1996 Granville Street in exchange for the retention of the Granville Street facade as well as a full parking relaxation; and

PURPOSE

This report presents for Council's consideration a request from the Dance Foundation for a further $100,000 capital grant.

BACKGROUND

In the mid 1980's Vancouver's dance community organized itself around the need for suitable rehearsal and production facilities. A feasibility study and building programme analysis, undertaken with support from the City of Vancouver, identified the need for a 37,000 sq. ft. shared-use facility. The Dance Foundation was formed as an independent non-profit society with a mandate to "fund, build, endow and hold the long-term lease on the facility".

All three levels of government as well as the community, through a private sector fundraising campaign, have provided substantial capital support to this project as follows:

In 1998 a site was secured through a 29-year lease from the Bank of Nova Scotia for a former heritage bank site at the corner of Granville and Davie Street. The facility is nearing completion and scheduled to open in September . Staff have toured the facility and note that the rehearsal spaces are both functional and attractive and will be a positive contribution to the cultural infrastructure of the City.

However, the Dance Foundation reports that the project is over budget by $455,403 as a result of their underestimation of DCLs in their budget, $200,000 in additional furnishings (i.e. retractable theatre seating for the studio), and construction delays. They are making a further capital request to the City for an additional capital grant in the amount of $100,000 (see letter attached to this report as Appendix "A")

DISCUSSION

The Dance Centre is an ambitious project. The program and scale has proved a challenge on many fronts - funding a suitable site, the scale of the building in relation to the site, the magnitude of the capital funding requests to government, the private sector campaign, and the operational sustainability. The Dance Foundation and Dance Centre Boards of Directors have worked hard to address these challenges. Notwithstanding these efforts however, the $8.7 million project has a $450,000 shortfall.

Staff have reviewed the request and note that some of the expenses should have been anticipated. While DCLs are a challenge City-wide for all non-profit organizations, they are particularly challenging in the Downtown South District with a DCL rate of $66.52 per m2 as compared to the City-wide rate of $26.91 per m2. These are costs which should have been known by the Dance Foundation when it made its business decision to proceed with the site in Downtown South. The cost of furnishing the facility should also have been included in the facility budget. The cost of construction delays however, can be difficult to anticipate and have run well beyond the contingency allocated in the project budget.

The Dance Foundation has raised $2.6 million in private sector donations to date. The Board of Directors has committed to continue fund raising to complete the facility free of debt. Further and notwithstanding considerable efforts, the Dance Foundation has not been able to raise sufficient funds to both build and endow the facility. The original plan called for a $2 million Operating Endowment Fund. The Dance Foundation Board indicate that they are committed to ongoing fund raising through the opening and first years of operations to secure the endowment, but at this time, there is no fund which would help offset ongoing operating expenses. A letter of commitment from the Dance Foundation Chairman is attached to the report as Appendix "B".

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

The previous capital grant to the Dance Foundation in the amount of $900,000 was provided for as a special major project through the 1997-1999 Capital Plan. No further allocation was provided for in the 2000-2002 Capital Plan. Should Council choose to support an additional grant, the source of funds would be the capital grant allocation in the 2000-2002 Capital Plan. The cover report outlines the annual capital grants budgets allocated and unallocated in 2000 and 2001. In summary, there remains $30,620 unallocated from the 2000 capital grant budget and a further $33,200 unallocated in 2001, subject to Council's approval of the grant recommendations made in the companion report.

If Council chooses to make a further capital grant to the Dance Foundation, it may wish to limit the request to the $63,820 in unallocated funds from 2000 and 2001, or if Council chooses to support the full request for $100,000 it would require an allocation of $36,180 from the 2002 capital grants program, leaving a balance of $163,820. This would limit the size of the 2002 capital grant program and the availability of funds for other social service, childcare and cultural projects.

CONCLUSION

Notwithstanding the many hurdles along the way, this remains a much-needed facility. Staff believe that it is an attractive and positive addition to the City's cultural infrastructure. Staff present the Dance Foundation's request for an additional $100,000 capital grant for Council's CONSIDERATION.

* * * * *

Appendices A & B are not available electronically and are on file in the City Clerk's Office.

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