City Shouldn’t Reward Failure
When Numbers Don’t Add Up
Events Of Broader Appeal Needed At Family Arena
Time to pack up the kids and camp out in line at the County’s Family Arena. I wouldn’t want to miss purchasing those hot tickets to the Troy High School Graduation. Now that’s the kind of big name entertainment we’re looking for to fill a 10,000-seat arena.
If that doesn’t interest you there are probably still tickets available to the numerous dance recitals the Arena managed to land. We’re just lucky they didn’t book the Edward D. Jones Dome first. Who cares if you aren’t related to any of the kids in the recital? Buy some seats in nosebleed territory, order a hot dog and start doing the wave.
Looking for something with a little broader appeal? The Jehovah Witnesses held six (count ‘em) six “ticketed” events at the Family Arena last year. No offense to anyone of a different religious affiliation than my own, but if 99.9% of the population belongs to some other religion, it probably cuts down on the mass appeal of the event.
Of course now that the former Steamers indoor soccer team moved to St. Louis and Lindenwood University hockey moved to a facility in Wentzville there are plenty of additional open dates on the calendar to fill. You could get your Church’s sewing circle together and book the Family Arena for making your next quilt. Or with the great echo effect the empty arena provides, how about a regional yodeling demonstration?
The under-utilization of the Family Arena would be almost funny if the County weren’t trying to pass off these events as legitimate “ticketed” events. A lot is riding on our interpretation of the word ticketed and what was meant at the time. That’s because the City of St. Charles has an agreement with the County that calls for the arena to have 115 “separate ticketed events” in any twelve-month period, to receive a $300,000 contribution from the City.
The man who helped negotiate the agreement between the City and County is a man of great integrity and honor, Tom Engle. He was then the administrator for the County and was assigned the task of putting together the complex financing of the arena. Participation by the City of St. Charles was critical. Construction of a multi-million dollar facility that would attract sports teams, entertainment and boost the local economy was an admirable goal and the agreement forged between the City and County was the kind of intergovernmental cooperation it takes to do big projects.
Of course we wanted safe guards for our contribution, but the terms were liberal. The County would have five years to get the Family Arena up to speed. Not one or two, but five years. And the bar we set was one everyone felt they could attain…115 separate, ticketed events in any twelve-month period.
The County provides the City with a list and this year and it showed a mere 120 events. Looking over the list I noticed there were: eight high school graduations;,four dance recitals, six Jehovah’s Witness Conferences and the Bush/Cheney Political Rally. That’s nineteen dates I had serious problems counting.
I questioned them because they aren’t dates open to the general public and the “tickets” are for controlled access and not sold through Ticket Master or other general outlets. My definition of a ticket is something Ticket Master would handle, that you or I could go and purchase if we were interested in attending…not given out or even “sold” to a pre-selected or screened group of attendees. Tickets, especially at the Bush/Cheney Rally were given out free as “passes” to the event and access to them was strictly controlled. So are high school graduation tickets.
The term “separate, ticketed events” was added to the contract between the City and County specifically so private events, conventions or conferences would not be counted. I was there. I know. I even remember quipping that we didn’t want them having a wedding reception and calling it an event. Now it looks like if you gave out invitations marked tickets to your friends and relatives, your wedding would qualify under the County’s new creative accounting.
The news gets worse for the County as we progress through the year. There are twelve dates on this list for the Steamers that aren’t taking place this year. Likewise, there were dates shown for Lindenwood’s hockey team last year and the team isn’t playing in the arena this year. The bottom line…they have a lot of ground to make up.
So I brought the matter to the attention of the City Council and we’ve referred it to the City Administrator. I hope when the $300,000 is due in September we are going to hold it back this year. The County had five years to make good on its promise. Also, if they meet the 115 ticketed event threshold next year they would get the contribution for that year. That will serve as a big incentive for the County to take marketing the Family Arena and booking sports and entertainment venues more seriously.
By the way, just so you don’t feel too sorry for the County, when the City asked them to help with the Convention Center project, the County turned us down.
The Family Arena does book some great events, like the Moolah Shrine Circus. The Missouri River Otters are also the anchor of the facility and do a good job of making the place look full on a weekend during their season. I enjoy the Otter games and wish there were more events to draw people to this first class facility.
One of the biggest problems has been the lack of a national management company. There are companies that are experts at managing arenas elsewhere, but the County Executive won’t loosen the reins of micro-management. If the City is to continue to share in the cost of the facility, then we need a bigger say in the management of the Family Arena.
When the City agreed to help with the financial structure of the Family Arena it was with the hope that sales tax revenues would help offset some of the cost of participation. When you book a group that draws a few hundred people instead of a few thousand, the taxpayers are losing out on the sale of tickets, food, beverage and souvenirs that otherwise might have occurred. It isn’t just the taxpayers of St. Charles City being shortchanged, but the taxpayers of St. Charles County, who subsidize the operations and long-term debt with their tax dollars.
Perhaps Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland, could just round up the gang and “put on a show”, but they only had to fill an old barn…not a 10,000-seat arena. It’s time to realize the dream and true potential of this underutilized attraction.
