After the Canada Day festivities, how many times this summer will the outdoor stage at Bower Ponds be used?
Now that the Bard on Bower program’s three weeks of intermittent performances have been cancelled, the answer is: very few.
That is hardly the best use of the venue, nor reasonable justification of the money spent refurbishing the stage area.
And it certainly doesn’t show the kind of community initiative to cultural engagement that we are so fond of trumpeting in Red Deer (for that matter, nor does the closure of The Matchbox, but we’ve been down that road before).
As a result of the 2005 Special Gathering Places Study, which reviewed the uses of the city’s main parks to see whether changes needed to be made, upgrades at Three Mile Bend and Bower Ponds were made through federal and provincial grants that totalled more than $1 million. About $480,000 of that went to building the new concrete performing platform at Bower Ponds.
The covered stage opened with the well-received Bard on Bower twin bill produced by Prime Stock Theatre: Comedy of Errors and Much Ado About Nothing. In part, it was a success because the city made the stage available for free to Prime Stock.
Now, a year later, it would seem that the city’s handling of the stage area may be a little of both: a comedy of errors and much ado about nothing (or, rather, much money spent for little impact).
Prime Stock previously produced works by Shakespeare as part of the now-departed Shake at the Lake Festival in Sylvan Lake.
A year ago, Prime Stock artistic director Thomas Usher said he thought Red Deer audiences were ready for such a production, and that the outdoors would give the staging a certain zest you wouldn’t get with a traditional indoor staging. It is a formula that has worked well in many other communities.
Audiences received last summer’s productions with appreciation — despite the mosquitoes and cool evenings.
But this year, as Prime Stock prepared to mount its second summer of the Bard on Bower with the productions of two more plays — Taming of the Shrew and MacBeth — money became an issue. Without the necessary community and corporate support, Usher pulled the plug.
The $7,000 required to rent the stage for three weeks was prohibitive, he said. And he wasn’t willing to apply for a city grant that could have significantly reduced the cost, feeling that it created an ethical dilemma.
“I think that (grant) money should go towards helping artists with their production fees. It should go towards helping artists.”
To stage the plays next year, Usher is looking at other grant possibilities, sponsorships and donations, and beer gardens.
The city did bend, dropping its original asking price of $9,000 for stage use by $2,000. City officials say that the cost covers necessary staffing of the stage area and the pavilion’s washrooms.
However, Usher believes a contingency should be built into the city’s operations budget to help groups that can’t afford to rent the facility over the longer term.
“Unfortunately, that space is going to sit empty this summer — a space the city has put so much effort into building and maintaining” for the public’s enjoyment, he said.
He’s right. It’s a great venue, in a tremendous location. But it is horribly under-utilized.
Last summer, we argued that the Bower Ponds stage could become the focal point of a whole new era in festival growth in Red Deer. A year later, it would seem we’re no closer to using the stage for anything beyond the obligatory (Canada Day).
It’s essential to continue to make infrastructure investments for the community. But we need to find as many ways as possible to put that infrastructure affordably to use.
John Stewart is the Advocate’s managing editor.