CSU presidential candidate Chris Schulz was taken to task for an election promise on his campaign posters.
Neil Schwartzman, Director of the Oscar Peterson Concert Hall, said he felt slighted when he saw Schulz promise to bring down the costs for students who wish to book the hall for events.
“My difficulty with becoming part of [Schulz’s] platform is that no one ever came to talk to me on whether [the promise] was probable or possible,” he said.
The Oscar Peterson Concert Hall was built with private money and was intended to be a revenue generator for the university, Schwartzman said.
“Everyone pays the same rate to use the concert hall. There’s no budget to support the concert hall. There never has been.”
He feared the promise would make people believe that the booking fees at the concert hall were part of a grand scheme from the “big bad university.”
Meanwhile, Schulz said time constraints prevented him from speaking with officials at the concert hall about the promise.
“I’m very aware that the Oscar Peter Concert Hall is there to make money,” he said, adding that he didn’t feel he had a mandate to negotiate deals with Schwartzman.
“We couldn’t see the use of sitting down and coming up with an arrangement before the election [because we haven’t been elected yet]. It made more sense to deal with it in our mandate, or pass the idea on if we’re not elected.”
It currently costs $1,700 to book the concert hall for one event, Schwartzman said. It costs $700 to use the D. B. Clarke Theatre in the Hall Building.
“That’s small compared with other production [centres],” he said. “I just called Pollack Hall [at McGill’s Strathcona Music Building] and it costs $2,300 a night there.” Community groups rent out the hall year after year because of the price, he added.
He also said all the employees at the concert hall are either Concordia students or former students.
While Schwartzman said it would be difficult to lower the access fee for student groups, he is willing to talk, no matter who becomes CSU president next year.
Schulz acknowledged that the concert hall and the theatre may not be able to reduce fees on their own. He said the university should begin subsidizing Concordia students who need space at either location to perform.
Neil Schwartzman, Director of the Oscar Peterson Concert Hall, said he felt slighted when he saw Schulz promise to bring down the costs for students who wish to book the hall for events.
“My difficulty with becoming part of [Schulz’s] platform is that no one ever came to talk to me on whether [the promise] was probable or possible,” he said.
The Oscar Peterson Concert Hall was built with private money and was intended to be a revenue generator for the university, Schwartzman said.
“Everyone pays the same rate to use the concert hall. There’s no budget to support the concert hall. There never has been.”
He feared the promise would make people believe that the booking fees at the concert hall were part of a grand scheme from the “big bad university.”
Meanwhile, Schulz said time constraints prevented him from speaking with officials at the concert hall about the promise.
“I’m very aware that the Oscar Peter Concert Hall is there to make money,” he said, adding that he didn’t feel he had a mandate to negotiate deals with Schwartzman.
“We couldn’t see the use of sitting down and coming up with an arrangement before the election [because we haven’t been elected yet]. It made more sense to deal with it in our mandate, or pass the idea on if we’re not elected.”
It currently costs $1,700 to book the concert hall for one event, Schwartzman said. It costs $700 to use the D. B. Clarke Theatre in the Hall Building.
“That’s small compared with other production [centres],” he said. “I just called Pollack Hall [at McGill’s Strathcona Music Building] and it costs $2,300 a night there.” Community groups rent out the hall year after year because of the price, he added.
He also said all the employees at the concert hall are either Concordia students or former students.
While Schwartzman said it would be difficult to lower the access fee for student groups, he is willing to talk, no matter who becomes CSU president next year.
Schulz acknowledged that the concert hall and the theatre may not be able to reduce fees on their own. He said the university should begin subsidizing Concordia students who need space at either location to perform.
