Grenoble (Isère). This is a welcome boost, but it remains very modest in view of the financial difficulties that the Maison de la culture de Grenoble (MC2) is going through. At the beginning of October, the Department of Isère reaffirmed its support for the National Scene by announcing exceptional aid of 25,000 euros. A contribution which comes as MC2 recorded a deficit of nearly 1.1 million euros in 2025, which represents 7.98% of its operating revenue: a level well above the legal threshold set at 5%. Requested by the prefect of Isère, the regional chamber of accounts then opened a budgetary control procedure for the MC2. In her report delivered at the end of August, she warns of a financial situation “structurally deficit”, noting that the 2025 financial year displays the largest deficit recorded by the establishment. The 2026 budget, for its part, would be “artificially”balanced by the entry of a compensation income of 1.4 million euros – or approximately 10% of MC2 operating income – but which would not have been the subject of any commitment. “It is necessary to review the economic model of the EPCC (public establishment of cultural cooperation), both in expenditure and in revenue, concludes the report, which estimates the uncovered financing need at approximately 1.45 million euros and therefore recommends the adoption of a recovery plan until 2029. First objective: achieve 850,000 euros in savings for the 2026 financial year.
Exceptional aid of 340,000 euros
Among the measures put forward, the report recommends the implementation of a savings plan, accompanied by an average increase of 16.5% in ticket prices from the 2027-2028 season. The fact remains that the MC2 had already started to tighten the screws in recent months, as its director, Arnaud Meunier, pointed out to our colleagues at Dauphiné Libéré. These measures would have notably resulted in the non-replacement of fixed-term contracts, employees on sick leave or maternity leave, to which is added a 22% increase in ticket prices in recent years. So many efforts weigh on the functioning of this institution, which presents more than eighty shows per season.
Above all, this recovery plan is subject to the assumption that public funding will remain at its current level in the years to come. However, this financing turns out to be particularly uncertain. For ten years already, the MC2 has suffered successive declines in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Region, the Metropolis and the State. In February, exceptional aid of 500,000 euros (distributed between its public authorities) was voted, an amount which was ultimately revised downwards to 340,000 euros. But at the beginning of July, the threat of a cessation of activity became much more concrete when the State announced the freezing of part of the subsidies – to the tune of approximately 13% – that it pays to twenty-eight theaters, drama centers and national orchestras. For MC2, which was among the establishments concerned, this represented a loss of more than 442,000 euros, raising fears of an interruption of activity from the fall. The measure, however, was abandoned following strong mobilization from the cultural sector.
