THE ARTS: When taxpayers help rich people hang pictures for their friends.
The Remai Modern art gallery remains nearly $4 million over budget, and questions linger over whether Saskatoon taxpayers should be required to cover that.
At Tuesday’s meeting of city council’s governance and priorities committee, Coun. Bev Dubois zeroed in on a $3-million contingency fund for overspending on the gallery.
City manager Murray Totland said the final cost of the gallery is still being finalized with the contractor that built it, EllisDon Corporation.
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When city council approved the construction of a new gallery to replace the Mendel Art Gallery in 2009, the combined cost for the new gallery and the parkade below it were estimated at $58 million.
Currently, the cost of the gallery alone is now estimated to be at least $84.6 million, without the $19.5-million cost of the parkade. The parkade’s cost is being paid almost entirely by the city, while the gallery was built with a mix of federal, provincial and city money, plus about $24 million in fundraising.