Whangārei's Hundertwasser Art Centre has got a $800,000 lifeline to stop it closing in June.
Cyclone Gabrielle was almost the final nail in the coffin for Whangārei’s colourful $33 million Hundertwasser Art Centre - but a ratepayer bailout has saved the controversial facility.
Until Thursday the iconic national tourist attraction in Whangārei’s Town Basin faced closure - barely a year after opening to much fanfare - because of Covid-19 wiping international visitors, the recent Auckland floods and Cyclone Gabrielle’s SH1 Brynderwyns closure.
However, Whangārei District Council (WDC) on Thursday handed the Art Centre, which is a council controlled organisation (CCO), an $800,000 lifeline, averting its closure before the end of June.
The money is made up of $500,000 of previously unbudgeted spending and another $300,000 from the Whangārei Art Trust capital reserve.
WDC general manager corporate Alan Adcock said without the money the centre faced insolvency before the end of the financial year.
Whangārei Art Trust trustee and volunteer chairwoman Dr Jill McPherson said she was relieved the money had been made available after what had been a perfect storm of events since the facility opened in February last year.
She said the closure of SH1 over the Brynderwyns had been the last in a sequence of many issues facing the centre.
Whangārei Mayor Vince Cocurullo said the council was duty-bound to support the facility, which was a major Whangārei attraction and a key part of the Town Basin’s art loop.
McPherson said firstly Covid-19 had put paid to the 50,000 international visitors forecast to have been visiting the centre in the last year, with instead only 3000 turning up.
There had been slightly more domestic tourists than expected with 87,000 until the end of February. Included in this were 27,000 Northlanders who also visited the facility.
McPherson said the number of domestic tourists visiting the site had been strong over December and January, but had suddenly plummeted to hardly anything with the Auckland floods and the closure of SH1 over the Brynderwyns.
She said 12,000 visitors (international and domestic) had been forecast to visit the facility in February but only 3000 turned up.
The council on Thursday also approved an extra $100,000 in operating funding annually from the July 1 start of the 2023/2024 financial year.
Cocurullo, Deputy Mayor Phil Halse and Crs Gavin Benney, Nicholas Connop, Deb Harding, Scott McKenzie, Carol Peters and Phoenix Ruka all voted in favour of the financial lifesaver. Crs Jayne Golightly, Patrick Holmes, Marie Olsen, Simon Reid and Paul Yovich voted against it, whilst Cr Ken Couper abstained as he is a council Whangarei Art Trust appointee.
Cr Paul Yovich said issues with the trust’s governing of the facility were more the cause of its current position.
The trust has been plagued with resignations in recent months, including of its chair and the centre’s chief executive.
McPherson objected to these comments.
“The trust hasn’t been perfect, but I take issue with claims of mismanagement,” she said.
She said the trust accounts had been given a clean bill of health at their last audit and there had been money in the bank. That situation changed over August and September when visitor numbers plunged, meaning major income loss.
She said the trust would be looking at other options going forward including cutting staff numbers, shifting more functions online, a new online shop and setting up a new friends programme with its annual paid fee allowing year-round access.
Cr Scott McKenzie said it was unfortunate a call on the facility’s guaranteed backup funds was needed so soon after it had opened.
“However, the alternative of not choosing to go ahead with the funding injection was even more undesirable,” McKenzie said. " ... as people have mentioned, these have been turbulent times we have been going through in the last few years.”
Cr Simon Reid said the financial top-up decision was setting the council up to become the provider of handouts in the future. Such a decision was “a chocolate-covered stone”.
Councillor Patrick Holmes said the facility was a positive asset for Whangārei and Northland and had to succeed.
“We are in a position where we have to support it. The guarantee is okay, it’s the unbudgeted $500,000 I have concerns about,” Holmes said.
Deputy Mayor Phil Halse praised the facility as a positive influencer for the growth of the city.
The financial issues for the Hundertwasser Art Centre refer only to this part of the more completely-named Hundertwasser Art Centre and Wairau Māori Art Gallery. The latter is run by a separate trust. The facilities are housed in the same building at the Town Basin.
■ Local Democracy Reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air
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