No. 8 
Maintaining essential funding for Arts and Heritage

Community arts facilities, theatres and some of the ACT’s most historic buildings will benefit from essential upgrades and restoration with funding in the 2010-11 ACT Budget, Chief Minister and Minister for the Arts and Heritage, Jon Stanhope, said today. 

“The Budget funds necessary repairs and upgrades to the Watson Arts Centre, Strathnairn Arts Centre, the Street Theatre and the Canberra Theatre Centre to ensure they remain accessible to local artists and the broader community,” Mr Stanhope said. 

“These targeted investments by the ACT Government will help to maintain the vibrancy and cultural life of our growing city.”

Budget highlights for the arts include:
•	$1.8 million to establish an ACT Film Investment Fund;
•	$747,000 for five new art studios at the Watson Arts Centre, the home of the Canberra Potters’ Society;
•	$200,000 for studio accommodation and essential landscaping at Strathnairn Arts Centre in Holt;
•	$150,000 to design extensions to The Street Theatre in Civic; 
•	$125,000 for essential works to heating, ventilation and air conditioning at the Canberra Theatre Centre; and 
•	$100,000 to commission an Australian composer to write a new musical piece for the Canberra Symphony Orchestra to play during the Centenary of Canberra in 2013. 

Mr Stanhope said the Budget also provided funding to protect and maintain our built and natural heritage.

“Several historic buildings and sites across the ACT, which have been identified as having a significant link to the heritage of our city, will benefit from new funding in this Budget for essential repairs and restoration,” Mr Stanhope said.

“The Government is determined to breathe new life into these buildings and sites through investments that allow them to be enjoyed by our community for generations to come.”

Budget highlights for heritage include:
•	$730,000 for upgrades and restoration to the Ginninderra Blacksmith’s Workshop, the Valley Ruin Homestead, Robertson House, Tralee and Couranga Homesteads, and Cargill’s Cottage;
•	$150,000 to restore a sheep shearing shed at the Mulligan’s Flat Woodlands Sanctuary that will be used as an educational facility and focal point for walks and tours; and
•	$100,000 to continue the Canberra Tracks heritage interpretive signage project, a series of self-drive routes highlighting many of Canberra’s historic places. 

4 May 2010
Media Contact:		Jess Wurf	6205 0504 (w)	0411 722 700 (m)
			jess.wurf@act.gov.au