Manitoba Centennial Centre Corporation mulls corporate face lift for Winnipeg arts district

WINNIPEG -- Corporate naming isn’t just for sports stadiums or convention centres - it could soon make its way to Winnipeg’s arts district.

Manitoba Centennial Centre Corporation properties include the Centennial Concert Hall, Manitoba Museum, Planetarium, and Manitoba Theatre Centre.

CEO Robert Olson said the corporation’s facilities need roughly $37 million in repairs.

“I think we’ve reached a tipping point in the last three or four years where there are major systems that need to be replaced, major upgrades that need to be replaced,” he said.

To pay for those repairs, the corporation is considering selling off the naming rights of buildings such as the concert hall at the suggestion of the province “to develop a five-year plan to achieve self-sufficiency.” It and three other Crown corporations, including Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries Corp., were given marching orders in letters from Crown Services Minister Colleen Mayer Tuesday.

Cindy Tugwell, the executive director of Heritage Winnipeg, said selling off the name risks affecting the brand.

“It loses its identity. These buildings are not just brick and mortar,” she said. “The Empire State Building, and all of those other buildings you can think of throughout the world that are iconic, they’ve never changed their name, and that’s how you solidify your branding.”

But according to Fletcher Baragar, associate professor of economics at the University of Manitoba, naming rights purchases are a global trend.

He said there’s value in keeping an original name, but there’s a tradeoff.

“I think it re-generates those historical connections, but it doesn’t necessarily pay the bills,” Baragar said. “It’s not the best option, but it’s definitely the more pragmatic one for the time being.”

Olson said the organization is aware of concerns about selling off facility names.

“It has to be a fit. It has to be a fit on both ends. Both from the corporation’s perspective and our perspective, so we're going to examine this stuff real carefully,” he said.

- With files from CTV's Jason Gaidola