Mystic Aquarium, Garde Arts Center, other nonprofits take significant hits

The Mystic Aquarium and Garde Arts Center lost significant chunks of financial support as Gov. Dannel P. Malloy announced budget cuts Friday affecting major arts and cultural organizations across the state, and the Eastern Connecticut Tourism District was left to wither away without any funding.

The aquarium lost more than $700,000 under the governor's proposal: $84,474 in the current fiscal year's budget, and $620,112 next year.

"It's a very significant appropriation," said Peter Glankoff, senior vice president for marketing and public affairs at the Sea Research Foundation, which operates the aquarium. "It'll be difficult to replace."

The Garde in New London, which had been seeking direct funding for the first time from the state, saw its appropriation cut to nothing from the governor's proposed $300,000 both this fiscal year and next year. The state's fiscal year began July 1.

Loss of the state's contribution means a possible 15 percent cut in the Garde's $2 million operational budget, unless more funding can be found in other areas.

"There may be some dark nights and days," said the Garde's executive director, Steve Sigel, referring to possible programming cuts at the Garde.

Ivoryton Playhouse cuts

Other arts organizations cut out of the state budget include the Ivoryton Playhouse, which lost nearly $200,000 over two years, and the National Theatre for the Deaf in Chester, which had a nearly $40,000 reduction.

Sigel said he is not counting on the legislature's restoring funding to his budget, but he thinks major cuts in the arts could be counterproductive to the state's economic climate and quality of life.

"You don't want to turn off the engine," Sigel said. "You have to keep the heart pumping."

Another area that took a hit under the governor's proposed cuts was tourism. Funding for tourism promotion was reduced from $15 million to $10 million, and the money will now also have to cover promotion of Connecticut to businesses outside the state. Support for the freedom schooner Amistad, built at Mystic Seaport, also was cut dramatically, by more than $451,000 over the next two years.

In addition, Connecticut's regional tourism districts - including the eastern district - have been dismantled once again, saving the state a total of $1.6 million. Malloy had tried to convert the regional districts into a more centralized organization in a budget proposal earlier this year, but the General Assembly restored the districts.

"Here we go again," said Ed Dombroskas, executive director of the local tourism district.

Dombroskas, whose office sent out 110 pieces of information to tourists on just one day last week, said he is hoping legislators restore the district's funding yet again. Meanwhile, he and two other employees are patching together day-to-day operations that could continue into September, using resources he has managed to conserve over the past few months.

"If the budget stands, we will not have funding to continue," he said.

The privately funded Greater Mystic Visitors Bureau would fill the gap, Dombroskas said, though he wasn't sure it was yet up for the task since the district is still running the mystic.org website and the bureau has not received nonprofit status.

But Glankoff of Mystic Aquarium said the bureau is merely awaiting approval of its nonprofit application and that the aquarium and Mystic Seaport, which developed the Mystic website as a joint project initially and continues to own the domain name, would ensure its continuation even if the tourism district is abolished.

Alternative support

Glankoff said he understands Connecticut's budget bind and will be looking for alternative ways to operate without the state's support. He said some kind of collaboration among tourism destinations will likely occur, as it has in the past, as the state's support for the regional districts ebbs.

"We are not the Land of Steady Habits, because the world is always changing," he said. "You have to be creative and innovative."

Glankoff said that, despite Malloy's cuts, he doesn't think the governor's support for marketing the state has diminished, especially when comparing his commitment to the negligible advertising dollars budgeted during former Gov. M. Jodi Rell's last year in office.

"We still have $10 million," he said. "That's a lot better than the $1 we had last year."

l.howard@theday.com