Renovations, a new branch, stagnant ticket sales, and inflation are straining the finances of Paris’s Centre Pompidou, according to a report from France’s Court of Auditors.
News of the audit, released on Tuesday, was first reported by Le Monde and picked up by ARTnews.
In 2021, Mayor Fulop announced a controversial plan to open a branch of the museum called “Pompidou x” in an unused building in Journal Square. Financing of the project has been an issue. Today it was reported that a state agency may withhold funding until the Jersey City Redevelopment Agency can close a $19 million operating deficit.
In France, President of the Court of Auditors, Pierre Moscovici, told Le Monde that “Centre Pompidou does not have the means to finance its development and investment projects on its own” and advised that the museum and France’s Ministry of Culture, which is responsible for it, should proceed with “extreme vigilance.”
According to the auditors, the museum’s financial problems are tied a total renovation of the Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers flagship building, which will necessitate closure for a minimum of five years, ticket sales that have not rebounded post-Covid, a new branch slated for Massy, France, a new storage facility, and inflation.
The museum, say the auditors, has raised only a fraction of the near $600 million that will be required to complete the renovation. The Massy location is projected to cost hundreds of millions.
In recent years, Pompidou has brought in money by opening branches in Malaga, Spain, Brussels, Belgium and Shanghai, China. According to ARTnews, Centre Pompidou is counting on a partnership with Saudi Arabia to help generate revenue, as well.
Jersey City has agreed to pay Pompidou over $5 million each year for the right to use the name and borrow art from its 2,500 piece collection.
The auditors called on the museum to improve its management, including better controlling expenses.