Manchester Council has confirmed that it will need to pump more money into the Factory project as it warns that costs associated with the volatile economic climate and the complexity and uniqueness of the building have continued to increase.
The Council’s Executive will be asked to approve an £8.7m capital budget increase when it meets on 26 July. This will be largely funded through borrowing to be repaid from income generated from naming rights and other building-related sponsorship, with £620k funded from a further Arts Council England capital grant.
An additional £1.1m will also be requested to complete public realm works to create nearby River Square, which has recently been the site of MIF’s Festival Square, and City Square. This is separate from the budget for the building and will be funded through capital receipts. Before that, the report will be considered at the Resources and Governance Scrutiny Committee on 20 July.
Audiences have been flocking to get their first glimpse of Manchester’s new world-class arts venue this month as it has hosted shows including acclaimed Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama’s immersive exhibition of giant inflatable sculptures You, Me and The Balloons and iconic West African singer-songwriter Angelique Kidjo as a preview of the venue during Manchester International Festival 2023.
It will open officially in October with Free Your Mind, a large-scale immersive performance based on The Matrix films presented across the building’s ultra-flexible space and designed to showcase its possibilities.
The council says that up to £1.1bn will be added to Manchester’s economy over 10 years through the operation of the venue through the jobs it creates and supports – estimated at more than 1,500 – and visitor spending.
It is expected to attract up to 850,000 visitors a year – increasing to a million in MIF years and adds that the emergence of the venue has already acted as an anchor to the development of the St John’s area where it stands at the heart of Enterprise City, a major new mixed use development of commercial, cultural, leisure, residential and cultural space.
t is planned that a final request for funding to complete the Aviva Studios project will then be brought to the scrutiny and Executive meetings this September. While that figure remains to be finalised it will be more than the amount being requested this month and will include the costs of the commissioning period and any changes in the construction final accounts.
Deputy Council Leader Cllr Luthfur Rahman said: “What is being created here in Manchester is a venue which is bold, visionary and spectacular. It’s a nationally and internationally important centre for art and creativity at the heart of our city which will also create new opportunities for our people, boost our creative and visitor economy and strengthen Manchester’s global reputation.
“Nothing great was ever achieved without difficulty. For all the challenges it has faced – and who could have predicted that these would include being built during a global pandemic and against such a difficult economic backdrop – this game-changing venue is definitely worth the investment and worth the wait.
“The unprecedented level of national investment in Aviva Studios, both from the Government and Arts Council England and commercial backers such as Aviva, is a huge statement of confidence in this remarkable venue and in Manchester. Over time, naming rights and other partnership arrangements will enable the Council to recoup the funds we have invested in this project in full as Aviva Studios makes an enormous wider contribution to the life of the city, the region and the UK as a whole.”
