PRIVATE donors have come to the rescue after the costs of refurbishing Liverpool’s Philharmonic Hall rocketed by £1.8m.
The city council’s cabinet is also expected to approve up to £2m extra on top of the money it has already given towards the work.
The council will cut the annual grant it gives to the RLPO by £500,000 for at least the next two years to claw back some of the extra money, effectively halving its handout to the Phil.
Today Michael Eakin, the Phil’s chief executive, spoke to Liverpool Confidential about the extra funding needed to complete what started as a £12m facelift scheme.
He said: “the city council is proposing, subject to Cabinet approval, to increase their capital contribution to the major refurbishment of Liverpool Philharmonic Hall by up to £2m, offset by a reduction of £500k per annum over the next two years in its revenue grant, and a long term lease repayment. This will support both the completion of the Hall refurbishment programme and Liverpool Philharmonic’s cashflow during the works.
“In addition, in the last financial year, Liverpool Philharmonic received a £1m contribution from Arts Council England to help support our overall cash flow, and financial stability. We have also now raised £2m from private donors, sponsors and trusts and foundations towards the Hall refurbishment.
“This support is helping us to make an increased contribution to the project from our own reserves. When concerts resume in the Hall in November, works will be continuing towards the full completion of the refurbishment programme in summer 2015.”
Earlier this week the Phil announced some events due to take place in Hope Street had been switched to other venues, or slightly delayed.
Main concerts in the main hall are not affected and will take place as scheduled.
When work started on the facelift a number of additional issues came to light, requiring extra work at the rear of the building. This extra work, as well as needing extra funding, has delayed the completion of the work.
The extra funding has been backed by Mayor Anderson to ensure the continuation of what the mayor describes as "a significant Liverpool institution, operating from an appropriate venue for the city’s cultural offer".
