LVEC Projects Elsewhere in North America

To continue getting real about the Large Venue Entertainment Center and it's potential for Kingston, let's look at some of the things that have happened in other North American cities:

In Niagara Falls, New York the public-private partnership between Seneca Gaming Corp, the City and the school board to build a similar venue to the one proposed here, decided against the idea:

"A proposed collaboration between the school district, the city and the
Seneca Gaming Corp. to build a state-of-the-art arena has fallen through.“The
numbers just didn’t work out,” School Superintendent Carmen Granto said
Thursday.

“Everyone was friendly and tried to make it work, but we all agreed it
wasn’t going to happen.”A feasibility study was conducted last year to determine
what impact an arena seating 5,000 to 7,000 people would have financially.
Granto said the study came back estimating the facility would operate at a loss
of $300,000 to $500,000 a year." - from the Niagara Gazette, Mar 3, 2006

Niagara Falls, NY has a population of 55,000 with an overall county population of 219, 000. It is located strategically between 3 major cities: Chicago, Buffalo and Indianapolis. It is also in close proximity to the Canada-U.S border. The city's economy is made up largely of services (31.4%), Retail and Wholesale Trade (22.9%) and government (17%) and manufacturing (14%). Sound like any city you know? The spokesman for Seneca Gaming had this to say about the failed arena plan in that city:

"We know full well most arenas usually end up losing money because you
can’t have an event there every day,” Pantano said. “We were OK with that
because we know it’s important to build up the surrounding area and an arena
might help drive added traffic into Niagara Falls.”

The LVEC might drive more traffic into downtown Kingston, too. The deal fell through mostly because a counted-on grant didn't come through as expected and the private partner would have been on the hook for more than it originally believed. In Kingston's case, where would the extra money come from if one of our grants falls through?

It turns out that Louisville, Kentucky is going through a very similar drama as Kingston with respect to its mayor's arena plan. Granted, they are looking to build a 22,000 seater - but the taxpayer's concerns are the same. The dispute the location and the cost v benefit scenario. "And the $75 million in taxpayer dollars that Fletcher wants to fund construction of the project may just be the tip of the funding iceberg, too. Unsuccessful arenas often require government officials to tack on even higher local taxes on restaurant meals, hotel rooms and rental cars to keep stadiums above water. " (source: The Bluegrass Institute). Their fight continues.

Nanaimo's debate on whether or not to build a multi-purpose facility went to a referendum in 2002. The "yes" votes won by a slim margin. The new Nanaimo Center is being built. Keep in mind that the referendum vote was in 2002 and then consider that a March 13, 2006 report on the progress of the build states that "Construction of Foundations is currently anticipated to begin in early summer." They have also run into some unanticipated funding problems "due to the nature of the Provincial-public-private partnership laws, the project simply cannot be built in 2006 with an expenditure cap of 52.5 million."

Des Moines, Iowa, population 198,000 opened 17,000 seat Wells Fargo Arena in 2005 with a local hockey team, the Iowa Stars, as its main tenant. The Arena has 1-2 concert events booked in each of the upcoming 3 months, with very few trade shows and family shows scheduled. To give you an idea of the impact this rate of success has had on the city - check the facts: in 2002 the Unemployment rate for Des Moines was 3.5%. As of January, 2006 that rate had risen to 4.4%.

Charlotte, North Carolina opened 20,000 seat Bobcat Arena in October of 2005. the city has a population of almost 600,000 and is home to NBA’s Charlotte Bobcats, the WNBA's Charlotte Sting and the ECHL’s Charlotte Checkers. It's shows for 2005 and into 2006 include Elton John, Dolly Parton, Disney on Ice, U2, Bon Jovi and oddly, Manheim Steamroller. (?) Charlotte's unemployment rate in 2000 was 3.3% - in December 2005 it was at 5.1%.

Our concept of a Large Venue Entertainment Center isn't really all that ... well ... large, is it?
Aside from our regular hockey games, what types of events will the LVEC likely attract?Compare the types of acts at Bobcat Arena with the acts attracted by 4,000 - 6,000 seat arenas, and for simplicity's sake, we'll leave out all non pro hockey-related bookings:

• Kamloops' "Interior Savings Center": 3 dates booked: Tanya Tucker, Beach Boys, Harlem Globetrotters.
• Peterborough Memorial Center: 5 dates booked: Faye's Bridal Show; Home Hardware Trade Show; Jann Arden; Home and Outdoor Show and Willie Nelson.
• Boston's Bank of America Pavillion: 10 dates booked up to the end of August: Sigur Ross, Dreyfus Presents Willie Nelson, Govt Mule with Michael Franti and Spearhead, The New Cars NEW TOUR 2006 with Blondie, Etta James with Susan Tedeschi, Souls Alike Summer Tour with Bonnie Rait and Special Guest Keb 'mo, Steve Miller, Gypsy Kings, and the Ian Anderson Orchestra.

Some of these are good, some might be great, and some are likely less than marketable in Kingston - especially considering that for whatever reason, the city is asserting that the facility would be used more often in winterthan in summer, and most of the dates booked in the above list are summer dates. Would performers even tour much in the winter?

There is much more to be researched. Let me assure you that this is a tedious task. It is difficult to unearth data on this subject, even though, as one digs, it becomes apparent that the downtown multiplex idea is one on which many cities are pinning - or have pinned - their hopes.

I will return when I get up the heart to read endless arena data again. For now, yo've got enough to chew on.