Mayor Tim Overall said The Q has become one of the city's most loved venues. Photo: Kim Pham.
IT has been almost five years in the making but The Q has finally achieved its first profit of $77,012.97.
The revenue stems from the venue's program operations, which includes ticket sales from its twelve productions as well as commercial and community hire of the venue for 2011/2012.The Q still receives funding from council in the form of a total operational subsidy of $480,318 for 2011/2012.
It's a significant milestone for the performing arts centre, which initially polarised local opinion, particularly after it posted a loss of $797,000 in its first year.
The centre opened in March 2008 and cost $8.6 million to build, with $6.875m coming from council.Program manager Stephen Pike told The Queanbeyan Age in 2009 that the negative press had hit them hard, with noticeable drop-offs in those seeking to subscribe for fear The Q might close down.
But Mr Pike said the perception of The Q had since turned around and feedback is now overwhelmingly positive from patrons as well as performers.
"At the start there was a little run of negativity, people were upset with it taking up car park spaces but it long since been forgotten: most people in Queanbeyan now feel it's a good thing to have here. They've seen things here that they would've normally had to travel to see in Sydney or Melbourne," he said.
"People's attitude to Queanbeyan is changing, it's gone from people saying things to me like, 'Did you really expect something like that would work in Queanbeyan?' to 'What a wonderful thing this is'.
"The Q has become an icon for this city and will continue to fulfil that position," he said.
Mayor Tim Overall said he was hesitant about The Q when it was initially passed through council.
However, he said public feedback was "enormously positive" and recording a profit was a good result for the venue.
"I've always been supportive of a performance art centre but I had my reservations at the time," he said.
"I had reservations about its current location, I thought there were alternative sites that should also been considered. I also had serious concerns about the business plans which were overwhelmingly optimistic and that proved correct.
"Of course there's a degree of subsidy for all performance art centres but The Q is one of the better performing operations in NSW."
There have been many positive signs for The Q in recent times. Tickets sales and season subscriptions have been on the rise.
"The box office has increased dramatically as well as the number of people on our database has doubled in the last 18 months," Mr Pike said.
"We have 6,500 people on our database, it's a good indication people are interested in things coming up.
"A total of 26,625 tickets were sold at The Q from July 1, 2011 to March 31, 2012 compared to 20,038 tickets sold during the same period the previous year.There are also now about 270 season subscribers.
"It's not huge but it is going up steadily each year," he said.
"Obviously subscriptions are important because that is people who are prepared to commit to the venue over the next 12 months.
"We have 12 shows per season, subscribers choose a minimum of four shows they can choose five or six or seven, but four is the minimum...we do have people who come to see show four or five time but they don't want to commit to exact dates so far in advance."
While it's been a successful 2011/12 season, Mr Pike said that didn't necessarily mean 2013 would be as profitable. With 60 per cent of patrons coming from across the border, Mr Pike said celebrations for Canberra's centenary celebrations might impact on numbers.
"There will be a 100 percent increase in competition over the next 12 months with other performance venues, free events to the public and outdoor events [in Canberra] so we hope to maintain a presence," he said.