A signage bylaw could threaten corporate funding for the arts, festival director says
Marke Andrews
Sun
CREDIT: Glenn Baglo, Vancouver Sun Because of a bylaw, the new Vancity Theatre will not be allowed to carry a sign with that name, which organizers say could put its funding in jeopardy. Vancity provided nearly $1 million in sponsorship funds for the project.
CREDIT: Glenn Baglo, Vancouver Sun With a city policy on naming rights at least six months away, Alan Franey, director of the Vancouver International FIlm Festival, fears for the future of much-needed corporate sponsorship in the arts.
The Vancity Theatre, new home of the Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF), will open in less than three weeks. But if you drive around looking for it, you won’t see any signage identifying the downtown venue.
That’s because the city of Vancouver will not permit corporations or individuals to put their names on the exterior of buildings that are owned or managed by the city because it violates the city’s sign bylaw, and the city will not negotiate case-by-case situations until it has a policy on naming rights, which is not likely to be drafted for another six months.
The city’s sign bylaw prohibits what’s called third-party advertising, which includes a corporate name on the outside of a building where that corporation has no presence.
Vancity, which gave almost $1 million to the Greater Vancouver International Film Festival Society (GVIFFS) to build the 175-seat theatre at 1181 Seymour St., is regarded as a third party because it does not have a branch office in the building. Vancity can have interior signage at the Vancouver International Film Centre, which also houses the film festival’s offices, a production room and a media and arts gallery.
Alan Franey, VIFF director, said there is a possibility that Vancity could ask the society to pay back the money the corporation gave it, which has already been spent on the building.
“If that’s the case, do you know anyone who wants to buy a brand new projector or sound equipment?” Franey asked with a shrug, eyeing the theatre speakers, which sat in boxes at the front of the theatre.
Franey said the non-profit society just doesn’t have that kind of money to give back, and worries about the future of the festival.
Even though the society had a deal with Vancity more than two years ago to name the space the Vancity Theatre, a July 21 Vancouver city services and budgets meeting prohibited the naming. At the meeting, it was ruled that no city-owned or city-leased facility would carry a sponsor’s or individual’s name on the exterior of the structure until the city comes up with a policy on naming rights, which likely won’t occur before next spring. Council also said it would not have any one-on-one meetings with parties to negotiate an exception to the sign bylaw.
Heather Redfern, executive director of the Alliance for Arts & Culture, attended the meeting and said that the city effectively tied its hands over dealing with case-by-case appeals.
“There are several projects [in the city] at the point where the pieces are coming together,” said Redfern. “With corporate funding, the lead gift is often a naming gift, and that is a significant piece.
“For council to put a six-to-12-month moratorium on any decisions on naming civic buildings, it’s made it impossible for anyone to bring an appeal to them.”
Christina Medland, senior cultural planner for the city, said the VIFF never came to the city for a one-on-one meeting regarding this issue.
“At council [the society] said that they entered into this agreement two-and-a-half years ago, but they did not come to council,” said Medland, who said the issue of putting Vancity’s name on the exterior is a sign bylaw issue, not a naming-rights issue.
The city does not own the $3 million building, but manages it. Amacon, the developer of the property, originally had plans to build a residential tower at Seymour and Davie Streets, and was given approval by the city to build a second residential tower on Seymour if it also built the film centre, which anchors the two residential towers.
As a sub-tenant of the building, the GVIFFS will not pay rent, but will pay the city an endowment of $100,000 a year. Franey said the sum is reasonable; the society was paying an annual rent of $80,000 at its old building on Homer Street.
Franey is concerned that this issue will scare corporations away from sponsoring arts groups and arts events, where federal, provincial and civic money is harder to come by the farther you move away from central Canada.
Ray Comeau, Vancity marketing manager, met for several hours with Franey Wednesday afternoon, after which he said he will continue to meet with the society to figure out a solution.
Asked if Vancity may ask for the nearly $1 million back from the society, Comeau said, “We haven’t made that decision. We will continue to dialogue with VIFF at this time, and help them as much as we possibly can.
“This is a disappointment for us,” said Comeau. “We entered into this a couple of years ago in the hopes that it would culminate with this year’s festival.”
The Vancouver International Film Centre hosts its first event Sept. 7, with a media conference for the film festival, and hold movie screenings at the theatre shortly after the media conference. The Vancouver International Film Festival Trade Forum will be held there Sept. 28 – Oct. 1, and the film festival (Sept. 29 – Oct. 14) will screen movies at the theatre daily.
© The Vancouver Sun 2005