POLL: Should Heritage Park get more funding from the City?
Posted Sep 18, 2018 5:52 am.
Last Updated Sep 18, 2018 6:25 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
CALGARY (CITYNEWS) – A place which prides itself on showing off what life used to be like, Heritage Park is now hoping it can turn back the clock after dwindling revenue sees them losing close to a million dollars this year.
The CEO of Heritage Park was making the case for more funding in front of a city committee Monday.
Alida Visbach says without an increase to the $3.1-million normally given by the City, the historic village might need to lay off staff or cut programming.
“This will be the first deficit ever in our 54-year history. We’re very proud of our financial responsibility and sustainability, but with everything coming at us outside of our control, we can’t manage around it,” she said.
“The decrease in attendance coupled with the increased costs of running Heritage Park with minimum wage, carbon tax, and other impacts, has really been a tough blow. We’ve managed over the past three years with a very stringent cost-mitigation strategy to try to mitigate some of these additional costs but we’ve just run out of the ability to do it now… I don’t dare cut anything more because there’s a safety issue involved for our staff.”
Visbach tells CityNews the fact the park’s paddlewheel boat, the S.S. Moyie, can’t operate because of repairs to the Glenmore Dam has been a big factor.
“All of a sudden one of your major attractions, something that draws people in, is no longer available,” said Visbach.
“People make a decision around that when they buy their annual passes. We also have considerable competition this year. We have cute and cuddly pandas at the zoo.”
The City will unveil its budget in November.
-With files from Michael Lumsden
