City gives early approval to Grand Theatre request for $2 million

A city committee has given initial approval to a $2 million funding requestto help pay for a planned $8 million renovation to the Grand Theatre.

The money is needed to fix a leaky roof along with other upgrades, according to the theatre.

In a presentation to the city's corporate services committee Tuesday, board member Jamie Crich said about 40 per cent of the money will go toward upgrading the Grand's Spriet and McManus stages.

"It's automation, it's lighting and it's sound systems upgrades," said Crich. "We're in a digital world where things are changing drastically and the Grand being a professional theatre ... these are critical to the success of both those stages."

The money will also be used to update the Grand's dressing rooms and common areas. Crich said those spaces haven't seen any upgrades in the past 40 years.

"We do have professional high-class actors coming to this city and we think it's important that they have an environment that is in keeping with the work that they're doing," said Crich.

To cover the rest of the $8 million renovation, the theatre will be requesting $4 million from the federal Canada Cultural Spaces fund and raising $2 million in private donations.

Deb Harvey, the Grand's executive director, said the federal portion requires matching funds from the city. She asked that the city provide a letter of commitment to ensure there's no delay in securing the federal portion.

The theatre's $2 million request which passed unanimously through committee was directed at the city's tourism infrastructure fund, which is money generated by London's new Municipal Accommodation Tax (MAT).

The city only began to collect taxin October through a four per cent charge applied to all hotel and motel stays in the city.

Half the money goes to Tourism London, the other half goes into a tourism infrastructure fund controlled by the city.

By the end of 2018, the fund had collected $822,000, leaving the city's share at $411,000.

Funding requests keep coming

Although it's only been generating revenue for four months, there has been no shortage of applications from groups looking to tap the fund.

City council has already approved:

• $150,000 for a temporary outdoor viewing area, fan zone and media staging at Budweiser Gardens during the Junos next month.
• $500,000 for the London Children's Museum. The money is to help the museum move from its Wharncliffe Road location to 100 Kellogg Ln., a move expected to come in 2022.
• $500,000 for upgrades to the London Convention Centre.

Some of the funding requests have generated considerable debate in council, highlighting the need for the city to establish a clear process for vetting funding asks.

City treasurer Anna Lisa Barbon said Tuesday that, if the Grand's request was approved, it would leave the fund with an estimated $261,000 by 2020. She suggested council members consider other funding sources for the Grand's request, such as the city's economic development fund.

The committee still voted to approve the Grand's request.

A staff report is expected by June that will suggest a standardized application process for requests directed at the tourism infrastructure fund.In the meantime, all requests for money from the fund are on hold until council decides on a process for approving them.

The committee's decision to approve the Grand's application will next go to council for approval.