Saskatoon Symphony seeks $20K municipal loan

The Saskatoon Symphony is asking the city for an interest-free restructuring loan, and municipal leaders appear ready to approve it.

"They're saying to us very clearly that we don't want to lose our symphony," says Andrew Mason, the symphony president.

The $20,000 loan would help the orchestra's cash flow this season.

Mason is confident city councillors are in favour of giving the symphony an interest-free loan.

"We have to come back to the city with a plan with a new financial plan within a year," he says. "And that plan will set out a proposal and a timetable for the repayment of all of our debt."

The symphony has also asked for a $5,000 municipal grant . It expects to receive $40,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts and the Saskatchewan Arts Board, and plans to use that money for expert advice on its financial problems.

"It's mainly to identify what financial controls we have to have in place," Mason said, " how we should be identifying marketing, increasing our subscriber base, so we can grow the audience and make the public understand and appreciate better how important the symphony is for the cultural life of the city."

The Saskatoon Symphony must show it can generate a surplus and Mason hopes the first one in many years will occur this year.

The organization has an accumulated a deficit of about $340,000.