Buckingham arts venue Estacade has until October 16 to raise $200,000 or close

Tashi Farmilo

The Carrefour culturel Estacade, the Buckingham presenter that brings professional shows to more than 30,000 young people a year, could close on October 16 unless it raises $200,000. The Quebec arts council's funding for the year amounts to a little more than a quarter of the $278,750 the organization says it needs to break even.

That funding, $78,750 for 2026-2027 from the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (CALQ), leaves a gap the Estacade says it cannot close on its own. The organization, which runs the Salle Desjardins, said when it launched its appeal on September 21 that it already earns about half of its revenue and fills roughly 80 per cent of its seats.

Rémi Pagé, the executive director, says the problem is not performance. "Despite an exceptional occupancy rate in our halls, CALQ support for the Estacade currently represents $3.32 per spectator, compared with about $14 on average for three organizations compared elsewhere in Quebec," he said. "This gap is worrying, particularly when you consider the very real demand from schools and the thousands of young people reached each year."

The Estacade posted a deficit of $91,238 in 2025-2026. Gaétan Ménard, its board president, told Le Droit that about $75,000 of last year's CALQ funding came from a school-support envelope that was not renewed. The council has since indicated the organization can apply for that money again and will try to release funds before the deadline, he said, but that would not come close to covering the venue's costs.

Municipal support is steadier. Ménard said the City of Gatineau contributes about $130,000 a year, compared with about $80,000 from Quebec. Le Droit reported that the city signed a funding partnership with the Estacade in 2025 and put nearly $500,000 into upgrading equipment at the Salle Desjardins.

The Estacade says it pays about $200,000 a year in artists' fees and close to $475,000 in wages to workers in the region. Daniel Coutu, president and artistic director of Prestigo, said a closure would be felt well beyond Buckingham. "For Prestigo, the Estacade is a partner of choice and an important support for our artistic activities," he said. "The disappearance of this cultural engine would have immediate, concrete and unfortunate consequences for our work with young audiences." The whole chain of local presentation and production would be weakened, he added.

Demand keeps arriving. The Estacade received 115 show-booking requests from Outaouais schools in two weeks, which Ménard said cover more than 10,000 students. It is not collecting payment for those bookings yet, he said, because it cannot be sure it will be open to deliver them. That explains the deadline: schools need answers, and the organization does not want to hire artists and technicians it may be unable to pay.

The Estacade puts its case in three sentences: "The demand is there. The mission is there. The funding is missing." The organization, founded in 2005, wants an end to year-to-year survival. "We must be able to offer young people in Gatineau and the Outaouais access to culture that rests on an equitable and lasting base of funding," Pagé said.

Residents can voice their support by signing the petition at: https://apps.docusign.com/webforms/ca/4238beb42371f52897b2764f77b1e867