COMMUNITY AND FIRE SERVICES COMMITTEE
	TO:	Mayor and Members of Council
	FROM:	Barbara M. Roth, Director, Recreation & Culture Services
	PREPARED BY:	George Phillips, Museum Manager
	DATE OF MEETING:	2004-Jun-07
	SUBJECT:	Approval for Rental of a Portion of the Museum Site to Sunnyside Amusements

RECOMMENDATION:

That the report entitled Approval for Rental of a Portion of the Museum Site to Sunnyside Amusements be received;

And that the Mayor and Clerk be authorized to execute a contract with Sunnyside Inc. (The Conklin Group) for rental of a portion of the Museum site for the period July 19 to July 26, 2004, in a form satisfactory to the Town Solicitor.

PURPOSE:

The purpose of this report is to seek approval of a proposed contract with Sunnyside Inc. (The Conklin Group) (see Appendix A) for rental of a portion of the Museum site for the period July 19 to July 26, 2004, for the purpose of the setup and operation of a travelling carnival.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

The Conklin family has been a leading Canadian-based operator of travelling North American carnivals since the early 1920s. In mid April of 2004 Mr. Conklin suggested that the scheduling of one of his travelling carnivals on the Museum site would be of mutual benefit to the Museum and to his company. The carnival attraction would help drive attendance to the site during a time when there are no special events planned, and the Museum would receive a share of the proceeds from the carnival rides. The Museum has arranged for the Royal Ontario Museum’s ‘Dino mobile’ to be on site at the same time as the planned carnival adding further critical mass to attract visitors to the site.

BACKGROUND:

The Museum is currently engaged in a master planning study to increase its audience and profile in the Greater Toronto market. The ultimate goal of the planning is not simply to increase visitation but to provide the residents of Markham with an educational and entertaining museum.

Sunnyside proposes to bring twelve rides and eight games and food booths. The carnival would be set up on the parking area at the south end of the Museum site. Refer to site map attached as Appendix B.

Carnival vehicles and trailers will be parked within the area designated on the site map. Parking for attendees would be provided at the north end parking area. Altogether there will be parking for approximately 100 vehicles.

The carnival will obtain the proper midway licence from the Town of Markham, and will be allowed to enter the property on Monday, July 19, for setup. The carnival will operate from July 22 to 25 inclusive, between 9:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m., and will be in compliance with the Town’s Noise Control By-law at all times. The carnival will be off the property by Monday, July 26.

Ride pricing would be $14 for a 16-coupon strip and $2 for two coupons, with the average ride costing $2. Sunnyside will also supply a $15 “Pay one Price” voucher for all day ride bracelets. The advance sale only vouchers will be sold by the Museum, and the advance sale will close no later than two days before the event. The Museum will receive $1 from each advance sale voucher and 20% from the gross revenue from ride sales on the event days.

The Museum will not be entitled to any revenue generated from game and food concession sales. All of the revenue generated from game and food sales will go to Sunnyside.

The Museum will be responsible for advertising and promotion of the carnival, which will consist of distributing posters and $1 off coupons. Both the posters and coupons will be supplied by Sunnyside. Refer to Appendix C for samples of the advertising.

The Markham Museum is continually seeking partners to improve the quality of its visitor experience and receives frequent proposals for partnership opportunities both from non-profit community based organizations and from private business.

The opportunity to share in both the visitation and the revenue that will be generated by the Sunnyside carnival is in alignment with both long- and short-range goals for the Museum. Sunnyside is the same company that has sold us our most recent attraction, a circa 1950 carousel. Mr. Jim Conklin suggested the placement of the carnival at the Museum as a first step in what could be a long-term partnership with the Conklin family.

Our ultimate goal is to have more people visiting the Museum. In order for the Museum to achieve sustained growth in visitation and revenue it must establish a reputation of providing worthwhile educational programming and fun family experiences on a regular basis. In order to do that within the Museum’s budget it means the effective seeking and negotiation of partnerships, something the Museum has done reasonably well to date and will more aggressively pursue in the future.

OPTIONS/DISCUSSION:

The agreement will address issues relating to municipal liability associated with the establishment of the midway on Museum lands.

The travelling carnival will not interfere with any construction or other Town operations during the rental period.

FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS:

The Museum is not incurring any significant costs to support this event other than supplying water and distributing posters and coupons.

Since this is a first time event, revenues will be minimal. We are estimating attendance of 5,000 and revenues of $3,000.

BUSINESS UNITS CONSULTED AND AFFECTED:

Legal

Clerks

ATTACHMENTS:

APPENDIX A – Draft Agreement with Sunnyside Inc. (The Conklin Group)

APPENDIX B – Site Map showing location and layout of Carnival

APPENDIX C – Posters and Coupons

Barbara M. Roth, R.D.M.R. Director, Recreation & Culture Services

Jim Sales Commissioner, Community and Fire Services

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