ManitobaA long-standing staple in Winnipeg’s live music and arts scene is pleading for financial help from the public.Costs have increased while revenue from ticket and bar sales have dropped, says executive/artistic directorDarren Bernhardt · CBC News · Posted: Dec 02, 2025 10:46 AM EST | Last Updated: 10 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 5 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.The West End Cultural Centre opened in 1987 as a non-profit, community-based arts organization and music venue. Its artistic and executive director says some of its programming, like a music school and a holiday dinner, aren’t revenue generators. (Cameron MacLean/CBC)A long-standing staple in Winnipeg’s live music and arts scene is pleading for financial help from the public.The West End Cultural Centre says in a Facebook post that it needs to raise $50,000 by Dec. 31 in order to keep its programs going. “The WECC is in a tough financial spot right now. We are asking our community for financial support, to help us through short-term difficulties,” the message says.Jorge Requena Ramos, the WECC’s executive and artistic director, said Tuesday morning that the letter is the first alarm in what could become a five-alarm fire.”We have a severe cash-flow issue. We’re not in danger of closing the doors tomorrow, but we definitely don’t want to start looking at making cuts into the things that we deliver to community,” he told CBC Manitoba Information Radio host Marcy Markusa.The facility at the corner of Ellice Avenue and Sherbrook Street opened as a music venue in 1987 inside a former church. It expanded with an addition on the back in 2009 and has a performance capacity of 380 people.It also has a secondary multipurpose space used for smaller concerts, meetings, dance classes and other events, which can accommodate 80 people.Many of the things that happen in that space are offered for free, such as a music school in partnership with the Manitoba Conservatory of Music and Arts and a holiday dinner.The centre also puts on free concerts in the neighborhood and at The Forks.”As an organization … [with a] mission of delivering art to the people, we have to do a lot of things that don’t give us any revenue,” Requena Ramos said.Starting to charge for many of the free programs the WECC offers is ‘a road we don’t want to go down,’ says West End Cultural Centre executive and artistic director Jorge Requena Ramos. (Felisha Adam/CBC)On top of everything else, the facility has been dealing with a problematic HVAC system for the past couple of years, costing hundreds of thousands of dollars, he said.The present system is so old “it’s basically a time machine,” said Requena Ramos. “It’s mysterious and nobody knows how to fix it completely. So we need to basically put a new HVAC in there.”He says when he joined the WECC as artistic director in 2019, funding from all levels of government made up 35 per cent of the centre’s budget. The WECC made up most of the difference through ticket sales to concerts and revenue from the bar.Although the dollar amount of government funding remains the same, it now only makes up about 15 per cent of the overall budget because of rising costs, Requena Ramos said.”That [funding] hasn’t changed. The world has changed,” he said. “If you ask any festival, their production costs doubled, tripled.”At the same time, fewer people are coming to concerts, and they’re drinking far less, he said, with alcohol sales down significantly year over year.”It became really evident that we were not going to make our targets for the year,” Requena Ramos said.Other venues ‘probably at risk’John Scoles, who owns the Times Change(d) High and Lonesome Club on Main Street, has also seen alcohol sales drop at his live music venue in the past year. His larger concern is that other venues might have to join the WECC in issuing public pleas in the future due to challenging economic conditions.Times Change(d) High and Lonesome Club owner John Scoles says he’s also seen alcohol sales decline at his downtown Winnipeg venue. (Felisha Adam/CBC)”If that’s their situation, then you can bet that all venues are probably at risk of similar things,” Scoles said Tuesday.Requena Ramos said he’ll use the lesson from the current financial straits as an opportunity to redraft how the WECC operates, but what exactly that means has yet to be determined.It could mean opening less, trimming staff or cutting back on programs.”Before we can enter that place where we are future-proofing the organization, we need to solve the immediate problem of today,” he said.The WECC has four full-time staff, which is already fewer than when the year started, said Requena Ramos, who’s filling two positions after adding the executive director role about three months ago.The idea of charging for some of the free programs the centre provides right now, though, is “definitely a road we don’t want to go down,” he said.”The kids in the neighbourhood need the free music school. It’s a place that they come, it’s a safe place, where they can just focus on something they love doing and they get snacks and food,” Requena Ramos said.”That is a huge achievement that the community has been able to put together — and so is everything else that we are doing that doesn’t give us revenue. These are achievements and should be looked at as [that], and we’re going to continue doing that.”The West End Cultural Centre posted an appeal on its Facebook page on Monday. (West End Cultural Centre/Facebook)Winnipeg songwriter and musician Keri Latimer, well known for her work as a solo artist as well as with the bands Nathan and Leaf Rapids, has performed at the West End many times.But she said the community programs, which her kids have been involved in and which also support local artists and families, are why she loves the venue.She wasn’t surprised when she heard of the request for community financial assistance, but she simply wants to see a community staple continue to thrive.”[Community] support and all of the volunteers that are supporting the place really can shape the lives of young people that really need music,” Latimer said.WATCH | West End Cultural Centre issues plea for help:Winnipeg’s West End Cultural Centre in a ‘tough financial spot’The West End Cultural Centre is asking for help to raise $50,000 by the end of the year for critical repairs to its decades-old building. It’s not the only live event venue in Winnipeg feeling the pressure of rising costs. ABOUT THE AUTHORDarren Bernhardt has been with CBC Manitoba since 2009 and specializes in offbeat and local history stories. He is the author of two bestselling books: The Lesser Known: A History of Oddities from the Heart of the Continent, and Prairie Oddities: Punkinhead, Peculiar Gravity and More Lesser Known Histories.With files from Felisha Adam, Information Radio and Up To Speed
West End Cultural Centre in ‘severe cash-flow’ situation, needs $50K by end of year
