(File photo/CHATNewsToday)

By Tiffany Goodwein

City report shows millions in losses for CO-OP Place and Esplanade

Mar 28, 2022 | 4:29 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB– They are places where you can cheer on the Tigers at CO-OP place, or take in a show at the Esplanade.

The two facilities are the site of most sports, arts, and entertainment in Medicine Hat but they are not making money.

At the public services committee meeting, the city revealed the Esplanade and CO-OP place lost a combined $11 million between 2019 to 2021. This year, the loss is forecasted to be roughly $3.7 million.

(City of Medicine Hat)

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Leah Prestayko the city’s director of community development said the pandemic had a huge impact on their operations.

“A number of acts have not been able to tour, have not wanted to tour. We faced a number of restrictions that have been in place nationally as well as provincially, both in terms of the border and who can cross the border, the acts we were able to draw here as well as locally. There have been periods of time where our audience size has been limited and or no audience has been allowed at all,” she said.

Still despite the pandemic, the city still incurred expenses. Prestayko said the virtual programming by the Esplanade, utilities and facility management costs were contributors.

But Co-op place in particular has been losing money long before COVID-19.

Numbers provided by the city showed that when the previous contractor, ASM Global/ SMG was in charge, they incurred $4.5 million in losses spanning from 2015 to 2019. Those losses , Prestayko confirmed eventually had to be paid by the city.

“It was up to the city to absorb those costs,” she said.

” It certainly wasn’t what was expected going into the contract. There have been some learnings certainly in terms of what our market size can afford, and what attendance will look like at our events, ” she said.

(City of Medicine Hat)

The contractor operated the events centre until 2020. That’s when the city announced they would be taking it over.

Faced with high losses, the city recently amalgamated operations between CO-OP place and the Esplanade. They say the move is expected to save $300,000 annually.

” Being able to share resources, being able to better place the right entertainer at the right facility we are working to improve our bottom line,” Prestayko said.

When asked if the savings achieved is enough, Prestayko said she believes it is a good start.

” Three-hundred-thousand dollars certainly is a significant savings. It is our starting point, as we learn more about how we can use these facilities, how we can share those resources , perhaps we will be able to see more,” she said.

The chair of the public services committee, Ramona Robins said climbing out of the losses will be two-fold.

“First of all reducing expenses, you got to meet your budget, you got to meet your expenses, or increase income. On the increase income side it is a little bit harder because we need to attract acts here that people want to go and see. We know that the pandemic has been hard on people financially. So we are not being unrealistic about what people can spend on different activities. The original plan for CO-OP place is to have 80 different acts a year, and we are a smaller city and do people have the money to attend 80 events? Probably not,” Robins said.

Part of the city’s strategy going forward is to host fewer events but with larger acts, with the aim of driving up revenue and filling seats that have sat empty for nearly two years.

In the meantime, the city is exploring options.

Prior to the election, the city intended to contract out operations for CO-OP place again. But now the city said they intend to test the changes for about a year to evaluate if it is beneficial to remain the sole operator.

Robins said she is pleased with the direction the city is heading and she is optimistic that staff can market both facilities well.

” What I heard today was that the consolidation of the Esplanade and CO-OP place together has had several advantages. One is the $300,000 cost savings which is significant and the other is to put the right artist in the right venue. An artist might be better off in the Esplanade which has 700 seats as opposed to 5000 seats at CO-OP Place.

The financial state of CO-OP place and the Esplanade will come before council, as the city looks to shovel themselves out of a big financial hole.