{"id":15945,"date":"2014-11-12T14:19:31","date_gmt":"2014-11-12T19:19:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2014\/11\/new-civic-center-owners-hope-to-cut-deficit-keep-it-for-sports-entertainment.html"},"modified":"2014-11-12T14:19:31","modified_gmt":"2014-11-12T19:19:31","slug":"new-civic-center-owners-hope-to-cut-deficit-keep-it-for-sports-entertainment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2014\/11\/new-civic-center-owners-hope-to-cut-deficit-keep-it-for-sports-entertainment\/","title":{"rendered":"New Civic Center Owners Hope To Cut Deficit, Keep It For Sports, Entertainment"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n\"civic\n<\/div>\n
The 35-year-old Glens Falls Civic Center will be sold to a local contingent, the Coalition to Save the Civic Center, under a lease-purchase agreement slated to close in December\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

BY BARBARA PINCKNEY<\/p>\n

The future of the Glens Falls Civic Center
\nhas been put in the hands of business and
\ncommunity leaders who want to increase its
\neconomic value as a sports and entertainment
\nvenue.
\nOn Oct. 21, the city Common Council gave
\nunanimous approval to a proposal by a group
\ncalling itself the Coalition to Save the Civic
\nCenter.<\/p>\n

The Coalition–whose members include
\nDaniel Burke, regional president for NBT
\nBank; Elizabeth Miller, president of Miller Mechanical
\nServices; Ed Moore, owner of French
\nMountain Commons and Log Jam Outlets
\nin Lake George; Bob Nemer of Nemer Ford
\nin Queensbury, and other area business and
\ncivic leaders–bid $600,000 for the 35-yearold
\narena.<\/p>\n

The deal, which is structured as a leasepurchase
\nagreement, is scheduled to close in
\nmid-December.
\nThe Common Council chose the Coalition’s
\nproposal over an $800,000 offer from
\nAdirondack Sports and Entertainment. That
\ngroup, led by former professional hockey player
\nKevin McCloskey, proposed creating a yearround
\nhockey academy at the arena.<\/p>\n

Burke, who also is chairman of the Glens
\nFalls Business Improvement District, said the
\ngroup already has raised more than $650,000,
\nprimarily from local businesspeople. It is looking
\nto raise about another half a million for
\nworking capital.<\/p>\n

“All of us came together and said ‘This is
\nimportant,'” Burke said. “[Having a civic center]
\nmakes us different from other small cities
\nthat don’t have such things, in a positive way.”<\/p>\n

He said a study by the Adirondack Regional
\nChamber of Commerce put the arena’s direct
\neconomic impact at about $13 million a year.
\nEdward Bartholomew, who heads both the
\nGlens Falls IDA and the Warren County Economic
\nDevelopment Corp., applauded the deal.<\/p>\n

“This is truly a community arrangement
\nwith support from the private sector because
\nthey believe the civic center should remain
\na sports and entertainment venue,” he said.
\n“It’s like putting a fresh coat of paint on [the
\narena] with some new players and some new
\nspirit and energy.”<\/p>\n

The city put the civic center on the block,
\nearlier this year, because the costs of supporting
\nit were becoming a burden. Bartholomew
\nsaid the 4,787-seat arena has had an operating
\nloss of between $500,000 and $600,000 a year
\nfor the past several years. This, coupled with
\nbond principal and interest payments, brought
\ntotal costs to more than $900,000 a year.
\n“The city could not afford to maintain its
\noperation unilaterally,” he said.<\/p>\n

The Coalition’s lease-purchase plan will
\nkeep ownership of the civic center with the city
\nfor at least five years. Burke, who presented the
\nproposal to the Common Council in September,
\nsaid there will be an up-front payment followed
\nby installments. The largest installments will
\nbe made in the first two years, with the remainder
\nof the $600,000 spaced out over three years.<\/p>\n

The city would be responsible for insurance,
\nsnow removal, water and sewer, bond payments
\nand any necessary capital improvements.
\nThe city’s proposed general budget for 2015
\nputs support for the civic center at $393,000 for
\nnext year. The 3.5-acre property would remain
\noff the tax rolls.<\/p>\n

Burke said keeping the city as the owner
\nof record would make it more likely for the
\ncivic center to attract state grants through
\nthe Regional Economic Development Council
\napplication process. The Coalition also is in
\ndiscussions with Warren County about sharing
\nin the bed tax collected on hotel rooms.<\/p>\n

“No commitments have been made, but
\ncertainly we want to make a good case so
\nmaybe they can help us with supporting the
\noperations of the arena,” Burke said.<\/p>\n

Responsibility for operating the civic center
\nwould fall to a new nonprofit, which is currently
\nunder formation. It will take over the 501(c)
\n(3) status of the Hudson River Local Development
\nCorp., which is merging into the Warren
\nCounty EDC.<\/p>\n

Burke said once the Coalition has completed
\nthe task of setting up the nonprofit–including
\nwriting bylaws and establishing a board
\nof directors–and closes on the deal with
\nthe city, it will turn its attention to the civic
\ncenter and what must be done to improve its
\nfinancial stability.<\/p>\n

“Like any group that is enthusiastic about its
\nnew adventure there are all kinds of thoughts,
\nbut the focus now is on the mechanics and getting
\nthe administrative and legal stuff in place,”
\nhe said. “Then we can start looking forward and talking about those kinds of things.”
\nHe said the Coalition did a “deep dive” on
\nthe arena’s finances and believes there is opportunity
\nto reduce its operating deficit.<\/p>\n

During his presentation to the Common
\nCouncil, Burke said that assuming nothing
\nchanges, the group anticipates an operating
\nloss of $550,000 in 2015–about where it has
\nbeen in previous years–but expects a deficit
\nof about $250,000 in 2016.<\/p>\n

This assumes that all contracts, including
\nthose with arena manager Global Spectrum
\nand anchor tenant the Adirondack Flames of
\nthe American Hockey League, are maintained.
\nBartholomew said the arena was profitable
\nonce, earning about $150,000 a year during the
\ntime–1979 to 1999–when the Adirondack
\nRedwings of the AHL played there.
\n“A lot of economic conditions have changed
\nsince then,” he said.<\/p>\n

He said the civic center was hurt by the
\nopening of Albany’s Times Union Center in
\n1989–and the subsequent addition of a
\nprofessional hockey team to compete for that
\naudience–as well as renovations at Proctor’s
\nTheatre in Schenectady, The Palace Theater in Albany and the Saratoga Performing Arts
\nCenter. These venues not only competed for
\nthe same, limited, entertainment dollars but
\nprompted some family events, such as the
\nRingling Brothers Circus and Disney on Ice, to
\nsplit their regional visits between Glens Falls
\nand Albany. Corporate sponsors had to split
\ntheir money as well.<\/p>\n

“That all contributed, plus the economy
\nover the last few years in Glens Falls, plus the
\ntax cap imposed on municipalities and school
\ndistricts,” Bartholomew said.<\/p>\n

However, Bartholomew said that by stirring
\nup community support for the civic center, the
\nCoalition is taking a page from the playbook of
\nsome of its competitors.<\/p>\n

“If you look at our area–look what Philip
\nMorris at Proctor’s has done,” he said. “They
\nare in the midst of a $23 million campaign to
\nextend the stage to accommodate full Broadway
\nshows. Phil has energized the greater
\nSchenectady area and as a result the contributions
\nare pouring in. Marcia White at SPAC
\nhas done a great job in raising money privately
\nand publically. That is the model that the civic
\ncenter has to undertake.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 35-year-old Glens Falls Civic Center will be sold to a local contingent, the Coalition to Save the Civic Center, under a lease-purchase agreement slated to close in December BY BARBARA PINCKNEY The future of the Glens Falls Civic…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":88,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[66,91],"yoast_head":"\r\nNew Civic Center Owners Hope To Cut Deficit, Keep It For Sports, Entertainment - Glens Falls Business Journal<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2014\/11\/new-civic-center-owners-hope-to-cut-deficit-keep-it-for-sports-entertainment\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"New Civic Center Owners Hope To Cut Deficit, Keep It For Sports, Entertainment - 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