Promoters of the upcoming Rolling Stones concert say any tax dollars spent on the show is money well spent.
The British rockers take over the Halifax Common on Saturday, their first show in Nova Scotia.
The provincial government has put up $140,000 for the event, while the Halifax Regional Municipality has set aside $100,000.
Ken Craig, concert production manager, calls the funding a "great investment."
"Yes, we're getting some funding from the local city, but it's coming back in droves," he said Tuesday. "We use local labour, we use local suppliers."
Craig said the Stones bring between $10 million and $15 million to the economy of every city they play in.
Many businesses in Halifax are already experiencing a mini-boom.
At the Holiday Inn Select overlooking the Common, the production crew has booked half of the rooms.
"They started to check in last week and they'll be with us as they dismantle and move on to the next venue," said general manager Joe Gillivan.
The concert is also expected to produce the biggest catering job ever in the city. The Delta Hotel is already preparing the 2,700 burgers it expects to sell.
"It's a huge, huge job to feed that many people," said Mary Dempster, spokeswoman for the hotel.
'We're in this together'
The job is so big that the Delta has pulled in staff from Nova Scotia Community College, Mount Saint Vincent University and other hotels.
"We're in this together," Dempster said. "We've got to make this look good."
One business is hiding its merchandise.
The O'Regan car dealership near the Common decided to clear its lot so cars are not damaged by concert-goers.
Nevertheless, general sales manager Gordon Calder said he's letting the Halifax Rotary Club take over the space and charge for parking. The charity stands to make as much as $5,000.
Events Halifax, which is promoting the show, also hopes to make money.
Any bills to cover municipal services such as policing and cleanup — which could add up to several hundred thousand dollars — will be sent to the organization.
Officials with Events Halifax say the concert will generate enough money to pay for services and any leftover money will go in a development fund for the Halifax Common.
To protect itself, Events Halifax has levied a $17 service charge on each ticket sold.
The goal of concert promoters is to sell 60,000 tickets, but no one is saying how many have sold so far.
