Financial comeback for Christchurch heritage park

Ferrymead Heritage Park in Christchurch appears to have turned a corner after being in financial strife just six months ago.

Park general manager Ian France said it had made a small profit over the summer months – December, January and February – purely from operational income.

“I can’t recall the last time that actually happened,” he said.

He could not reveal the park’s profit over the three-month period due to commercial sensitivity.

The park’s situation is a far cry from last year when its bid to receive $320,000 from the city council’s Strengthening Communities fund was declined.

This left the park in a “survive, revive and thrive” position going forward, Ferrymead Trust chair Jackie Sutherland said at the time.

The park was forced to resort to cost-cutting wherever it could, which led to two permanent staff losing their jobs.

This came off the back of missing out on between $700,000 and $1.2 million a year for the next three years last June, as part of the city council’s Annual Plan.

France attributed the park’s turnaround to its strong educational programme and the success of recent events, including the Nostalgia Festival and Southern Spice.

He said the park has submitted to this year’s Annual Plan and will be making a presentation to city councillors on Tuesday.

It is seeking funding to refurbish a number of buildings on site.

While it has not requested a specific amount from the city council, France said it would be much less than in previous years due to the park’s improved position.

“It’s a massive turnaround from August last year and no funding, to where we’ve got to now and making an operating profit,” he said.

France said the improvement would make the park more attractive to other potential funders, with applications set to begin in the coming months.

A focus of those applications will be supporting its education programme and enabling visits by schools that cannot normally afford it.

“All of a sudden it’s not about needing all this money to pay wages, there’s other opportunities there because we’ve turned it around so much,” he said.

Permanent staff numbers have remained the same since the initial two cuts, and the park now has a core group of 12 volunteers with a range of skill sets assisting its operations.

The park secured its first corporate sponsorship from Isaac Construction at the end of last year, with a plan that the company will carry out much-needed repairs to pavements and roads when available this year – work the park has wanted done since the earthquakes.

“It’s helping us aesthetically, but it also makes it a better experience for people coming in,” France said.