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Manager is confident Dekker Centre will overcome 2015 deficit

Jul 20, 2016 | 5:00 PM

While revenue was down for a North Battleford performing arts centre last year, attendance saw a spike.

The Dekker Centre recorded decreases in numerous areas of its 2015 audit but General Manager Moe McGuinty said he isn’t worried.

“The bottom line is that attendance at shows was up last year compared to 2014. We just didn’t do as many shows. Of course total ticket sales will be down when you do less shows,” McGuinty said.

According to McGuinty the Dekker Centre had 14 shows last year compared to 22 the year before and saw a 12 per cent increase in attendance.

“We are doing even better so far in 2016. Of the eight shows this year we’ve had 72 per cent attendance. We’ve built a nice audience for our in house shows to the extent we can make money. Making money isn’t the nature of the business. If you can break even or do better, you’re in pretty good shape,” McGuinty said.

The Dekker Centre had a total revenue of $605,519 last year, which is a decrease of 13 since 2014. McGuinty said the decline was due to the slow economy.

The Dekker Centre ran a deficit of $8,000 which bit into the 2014 surplus of $23,000. McGuinty said he expects to have another accumulated surplus at the end of the 2016 fiscal year.

Another area that saw a drop in sales was alcohol. Mcguinty attributed the shows becoming more family oriented as the reason.

 

Greg Higgins is battlefordsNOW’s city municipal affairs and health reporter. He can be reached at ghiggins@jpbg.ca or tweet him @realgreghiggins.