The Event Center Task Force; Three Strikes, you are out!

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dykhouse

Just one of the several “If we build it, they will come” boneheads that sit on the EC Task Force. I think we will pass on the advice from a fee harvesting thief that will soon be looking for a new job.

It’s time to replace the Event Center Task Force. They have it wrong on three fronts and no one seems to be calling them out on it until now. Scotty Hudson found this quote;

My new hero is Stampede chief executive officer Gary Weckwerth. Sure, he differs with me in that he does want a new facility built. At least he’s realistic about the city’s draw, saying that a 15,000 seat building is “monstrous for this community…I don’t want to see them over-build and have this big animal that sits empty and doesn’t work for the teams that play there”, he told the Argus. “Over the last 50 years, have we really outgrown the Arena that we have? The amenities and quality of it…is gone. But from a simple seat perspective, we have not outgrown the Arena as it sits today. And we never will.” Please, Mr. Weckwerth, run for Mayor.

Gary is right.  Not only is the plan too big, but the location has no entertainment infrastructure and funding it thru charging people more taxes on essential goods like food and utilities is assinine. But the task force doesn’t seem to get it;

Dykhouse and Woster said the task force still prefers a facility that seats more.
“I can’t see us going over 15,000, but I can’t see us going below 12,000,” Woster said.
“This isn’t about five to 10 years from now. This is about 25 or 30 years. We want to look 40 years down the road.”

Originally when I was still against the new Event Center my argument always was, “We don’t book the 7,000 seat Arena at capacity now, what makes us think we can book one twice the size?” Since the recession, that I believe will take the country 5-10 years to truly recover from, people have been finding different ways to spend their entertainment dollars. And buying $120 concert tickets isn’t one of them.

It’s time we fire the task force and start from scratch, again. Maybe the 3rd time is a charm.

If we build it, they will come (with their Coleman stoves)

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Sy read the Gargoyle Leader’s sports section on Sunday and sent me this comment about the event Center;

“There is a small but vocal faction that still wants to see an events center built downtown, but their prospects are bleak. In addition to logistical issues – facility space, parking, traffic flow – the downtown concept is seen as a deal-breaker because it’s enormously unpopular among the general public. – Stu Whitney

You know what else is enormously unpopular with the general public, Stu Whiney and his constant stream of negative piss he calls sports journalism.   When has the general public weighed in on the issue of Event Center location?   The size a paid consultant is recommending would easily fit at that Cherapa site and there’s more access points in and out than there would be at the Arena site.   Parking?  Again, we’ve paid people to look at this and they have said there is plenty of existing parking within reasonable walking distance, and that wouldn’t include any more added by replacing the River ramp or what comes in next to the facility itself.   

 

Another enormously unpopular idea is moving Howard Wood field and adding an additional $10 million or so to rebuild it out on basically useless ground tucked in between the Airport and the Benson Road exit.   The School Board wants to spend $5 million to renovate it, so that option was obviously not their first choice.   

 

We could build the 12K seat Events Center downtown for $100 million, match the School Board’s $5 million and upgrade Howard Wood.  Put $15 million apiece into additional parking at or around the downtown site, and into renovating the Convention Center to incorporate the Arena and add sellable floor space.   Total price tag = $135 million which is $15 mil less than the new budget number.    You’d end up with 3 first class facilities, with two sets of naming rights to sell, that would suit the City’s needs for the next 50 years. The projects could be staggered in a way that you are using one while you are constructing the others so you would minimize lost Event revenue.   Plus, this is the only plan that would draw in another 400 or so new hotel rooms which will help solve that problem at the same time. 

 

Again, the best plan is the one that will offer the best payback on the investment.   All the others floating around right now will short change us for a generation. 

 

 

 

Event Center task force meeting update; H/T – Sy

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I decided to make Sy’s comment it’s own post;

Sy says:
June 24th, 2009 at 9:14 pm e

I attended the meeting today (WED), they are stuck on the HWF/Arena site, but aren’t sure if we should build one be all end all Events Center or maybe look at two facilities. One for games/concerts and another for conventions/tradeshows/events.

Didn’t seem to occur to them that if we are talking two facilities, we should be talking two sites. They kept referring to an Arena vs. a Coliseum.

They want to figure out that question before they ask the Consultant to put together a pro-forma on whether or not the thing will fly.

They also were at the point of eliminating the idea of an indoor football venue, but didn’t want to make that call since the one major backer of that idea (I can only assume they meant Dykehouse) wasn’t in attendance.

I’ll give them credit, they are trying. But they can’t see the forest through the trees.

Some other points;

We are seriously behind the 8 ball on all phases, whether you are talking conventions, trade shows, concerts, games, etc. It’s amazing we draw what we draw. We lose or almost lose a ton of business due to lack or airline service. The person who usually signs the contract nearly craps him/herself when he looks at direct flights into SF vs. Omaha. We also lack the type & number of hotel rooms they want, the shopping & dining amenities they want, and the overall experience most of these people are accustomed too. It’s amazing we can book shit at all.

Also, they are taking their sweet time, but you can tell the sentiment of trying to please everyone is guiding the process. Again, the point of the Task Force should be to put together the best plan, whether or not it’s the most popular or it’s on the path of least resistance. They are going to put together a plan, then ask the consultant to give them the pro-forma to make it fly politically, which seems entirely bass-ackwards to me.