Burnsville arts center posts best year yet
Loss beat forecast in 2011
by John Gessner
Thisweek Newspapers
The Burnsville Performing Arts Center continued to lose money last year, as expected, but the loss was far less than predicted.
The three-year-old venue had its best year in 2011. Operating losses totaled $275,711 — about $116,400 less than the $392,130 loss budgeted for the year. The figures don’t include annual debt payments for the $20 million facility or building depreciation.
“We saw tremendous growth this year in many different areas,” said Brian Luther, the center’s third executive director, who began work in October for VenuWorks, the city-hired management firm.
Performance outpaced even October 2011 estimates, when center officials were still predicting a $386,000 loss by year’s end.
“A lot of it was our finish in the fourth quarter,” Luther said. “We just finished stronger than we projected.”
Operating losses totaled $547,000 in 2009, the center’s first year, and $367,000 in 2010.
The improved 2011 performance came despite the loss of $70,000 in revenue from the closing of School District 191’s Envision Academy arts magnet school, which had rented space at the center in 2010.
Luther attributed a loss in total visits last year to the school’s closing. Attendance totaled 86,979 in 2011, compared with 95,737 in 2010, he said.
But the number of events booked grew “dramatically” last year from 2010 levels, Luther said.
An “angel fund” built on private donations and a $50,000 city loan allowed the center to book its own five-event performance series, Luther said.
“Also, we saw very strong commercial events, such as (concerts by) Lyle Lovett, Mark Cohn and the BoDeans,” Luther said.
“Lyle Lovett and the BoDeans brought in whole new audiences to our facility,” he said. “It’s very important we continue to program the big-name events as well as the programming that we’re doing.”
Three of the five shows in the angel fund series were held last year. Two turned a profit, and will return $7,270 to the fund for future performances. Two more shows, by Spencers Theatre of Illusion and Celtic Crossroads, will be held in March.
The fund, which Luther said now stands at about $67,000, allows the center to go out and buy its own shows without downside risk to taxpayers.
“It’s a very solid fund at this point,” Luther said. “I think it gives me tools to look at programming for the 2012-13 season.”
Bookings of regional dance competitions — a dozen in 2011 — have become a solid revenue source for the venue.
“We’re seeing an increase in dance competitions, which have been a very good piece of business for us and the community overall,” Luther said.
The center’s operating expenses totaled $1.14 million last year, according to the city.
Even before the center was built, a consultant’s study predicted operating losses of up to $350,000 a year. City officials have been keen to minimize losses at the venue, whose construction and operation have been criticized by many residents.
John Gessner is at john.gessner@ecm-inc.com.
“But Council Member Dan Gustafson, long a proponent of the arts venue, said the furor has died down as the center has grown more popular and bested financial projections.”
Hey Dan, It is way too easy to best the projections when you do not show the depreciation in your loss projections for an enterprise that involves spending $20,000,000 for a building. Not only were the loss projections screwed up, the city did not do a cash-flow projection.
The coverup is convenient because you only need to let VenuWorks prepare operating statements from the VenuWorks checkbook and let journalists dig out the meaningless garbage that does not include journal entries that record the depreciation.
Do you really believe your personal financial problems were caused by economic conditions in the country? You tried to screw the IRS and your employees and that tells a lot about your business skills. It is had to believe you were endorsed by the Burnsville Chamber of Commerce for your council seat.