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Although the city naysayers predicted otherwise, it appears early on that the Ford Center is not only going to make money but will come in under budget for construction as well...
http://www.courierpress.com/news/2012/mar/21/profitable-year-for-arena/
"The Ford Center, which was projected to have a first-year operating loss of $104,000, instead recorded a profit of $280,000 during the two months it was open last year, VenuWorks officials told members of the Evansville Redevelopment Commission Tuesday.
Also, Ford Center project manager John Kish said construction of the Downtown arena came in at up to $2.5 million under budget."
So what can we take from this?
- Building a new arena was a great idea
- Building the new arena downtown was an even better idea
- Venuworks and Ford Center director Scott Schoenike did an awesome job opening the Ford Center
- SMG and Venuworks did a great job working together to co-brand the Ford Center and the Centre
- We have extra funding left over
What can't we take from this?
- The idea that the Ford Center will always make money. With only 5 months in, it's way too early to tell how the Ford Center will fare once it gets broken in.
- The location for the Ford Center was a good idea. Usually, arenas need at least 8-9 acres to breathe. If I remember correctly, the Ford Center's lot is between 4-5 acres.
- The city built the right sized arena. The Ford Center is turning a profit even with 9-10,000 seats. Imagine the amount of revenue NCAA Tournament games would have brought to the city if we would have built bigger?
- We shouldn't invest in Roberts Stadium which would increase the Ford Center's profitability because it might compete somehow someway.
Of all the news we found out yesterday, the news that the Ford Center construction saved us $2.5 million is easily the biggest. Why should this $2.5 million be redirected to Roberts Stadium?
- Robert Stadium's renovations are projected to fall under $2.5 million.
- Renovating Roberts Stadium will bring in more tourists to Evansville which will bring in more guests for the Ford Center to sell tickets to as well.
- Reallocating these funds will allow the city to avoid having to tap into the Innkeepers or Casino Aztar funds which have already been tapped for boondoggle projects such as the ball fields at Wesselman Park plan.
Make no mistake, I don't believe these funds should be reallocated to Roberts Stadium until all fundraising options have been exhausted. I truly believe that selling naming rights to the gates, selling the 5-6,000 seats that would be removed from Roberts Stadium, and selling the old Ace's court would give us the vast majority of the funds we need to renovate Roberts Stadium. However, it is also logical and financially smart to reallocate the saved $2.5 million to finish off the renovations to Roberts Stadium.
Roberts Stadium is here to compliment, not compete, with the Ford Center. This legendary and iconic structure brings a lot of great things to the table for Venuworks and the Ford Center such as the following...
1. The ability to flex smaller events to Roberts to make room for larger events downtown
2. The ability to use Roberts Stadium as a shuttle stop for the Ford Center which will also make downtown Evansville less congested with automobiles.
3. The ability to cross-market the two facilities such as hanging a Home Show banner at Roberts this past week.
4. The ability to bring in more tourists and guests to Evansville to increase revenue for the Ford Center
5. The ability to stabilize the east side restaurants and retail as well as bring back the lost SMG jobs which will in turn create more jobs for those at the Ford Center.
I would like to express my congratulations and thanks to Venuworks and Mr. Scott Schoenike for the hard work they have put into the Ford Center. I also want to thank him for taking time out of his busy schedule last week to talk to me about Roberts Stadium.
Let's promote the Ford Center. Let's SAVE ROBERTS STADIUM!
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