Extra money from the City of Edmonton means the Winspear Centre expansion won’t remain half-built for the next five to 10 years, its CEO says.

The construction project, in the heart of downtown, has run over-budget with pandemic-driven cost pressures. But on Wednesday, city councillors committed to getting it over the finish line, releasing an additional $33.4 million from the Downtown Community Revitalization Levy.

“It was hard not to be emotional about it. It was a pretty big deal,” Winspear president Annemarie Petrov told CBC News.

The Winspear’s expansion, reaching to the back of the building along 97th street, is creating a new 550-seat acoustic hall theatre, new spaces for educational programming and indoor and outdoor public space.

The project was granted $11 million in the recent provincial budget. Those dollars, plus money from the federal government, were contingent on raising the remaining amount, Petrov told councillors Wednesday.

Funding the gap with the CRL — which lets the city borrow money from the provincial government against future property tax revenues — means it will take another year for the fund to break even in 2038, city staff told councillors.

Only Ward Sspomitapi Coun. Jo-Anne Wright voted against releasing the money. She questioned why the Winspear couldn’t fundraise the full amount.

“It’s easier for you to do fundraising than for the city to do fundraising to cover costs,” Wright said.

Initially, the Winspear anticipated the CRL funds wouldn’t be enough to meet its shortfall — estimating that it would need another $6 million to $7.5 million. But Petrov said the venue was recently able to fundraise that amount.

She said the music venue could raise the $33.4 million, but it would take upward of a decade.

The levy “is allowing us to open immediately, as opposed to having to continue to keep the building shell while we do the fundraising work,” Petrov said.

The Winspear, she added, is continuously fundraising and proactively mitigating costs by procuring new contractors.

“We would not be here today had it not been for the pandemic. I just really want to underscore that,” Petrov said. “That was really something that was way beyond our control.”

Coun. Anne Stevenson, who represents Ward O-day’min, where the Winspear is located, said the project is a valuable investment for downtown.

“They do so much more for our community, far beyond music and arts, and I think are particularly well-aligned with our strategic goals,” she said.

“Having more people in the downtown — particularly in the evening hours when it can be quieter, on the weekends — that goes a long way toward supporting safety.”

Wednesday marked the second time this year the municipal government approved more money for the music venue.

In January, council gave the Winspear a one-time lump sum of $6.5 million to recoup lost parking revenue, driven by parking spaces lost to the city’s district energy hub system going into the music hall’s underground parkade. 

Petrov told CBC construction had been paused since the end of December, while the centre waited to secure funds to start the final phase of the project. 

“That was really the main thing that needed to transpire … to know that all systems were a go,” Petrov said.

Now, she said, construction for the inside of the music box will begin, with an anticipated opening date in fall 2027.