Each Gallery Night, the monthly special event hosted by the Downtown Improvement Board on Palafox, costs the DIB $9,357 -which the organizations tries cover with a sponsorships and a fees charged to downtown businesses. DIB Executive Director Ron Butlin created this spreadsheet for his board on the costs associated with each Gallery Night:
Clean Up: 850.00
Bollard Set Up: 250.00
Police: 1,877.00
Port-a-let: 655.00
Traffic Equipment: 517.08
No Parking Signs: 25.00
Zip Ties: 45.00
Courthouse Posters: 195.00
Participant Posters: 400.00
Signs Install/Remove: 100.00
City Permit: 250.00
Insurance allocation: 1,000.00
Staff Time: 2,500.00
EMT: 693.50
Expenses Total: $9,357.58
Initially Gallery Nights were sponsored now-defunct Arts Council of Northwest Florida and held quarterly. When the DIB took it over it was expanded to 6-8 times a year. Now the DIB has announced that the Gallery Nights will be held monthly.
We are hearing from downtown businesses that they are not so sure monthly Gallery Nights are a good idea. To get the events to pay for themselves, the DIB will need more sponsors and to raise fees for participating businesses.