An Editorial...Important Decisions Needed on Civic Center

Last year the Grove Civic Center generated rental income of $14,500.
But the electric bill alone was $28,887.14. Hello?

In 2005 the 137,000 square foot Civic Center was host to 22 events; seven of those used only half the building, according to city records. Records also show the center was booked for a total of 86 days, with 38 days for setup/teardown at no charge.
Records show 29 days were paid at $500 per day; another 19 days were entirely free to hospital, emergency medical, educational or city use.

A total of $101,811 is budgeted for '05-'06 for salaries and benefits for one and a half employees; telephone, utilities, sanitation and contract services; janitor supplies and building and grounds maintenance, for the Civic Center.

So the building is costing taxpayers about $86,000 a year to operate, not counting repairs for the roof or nonfunctioning air conditioning equipment. An estimated $500,000 in repairs has been suggested as a figure to fix the building, an old WalMart which cost the city about $650,000 some 10 years ago. The city has put about $1.4 million into it, according to a GIDA board member. It has served the public well, most agree.
Estimated worth of the building and land is currently about $3.5 million.

Major multi-day paid users of the facility in 2005 were the Home and Garden Show; Boat Show, Northeast Kennel Club; Tri-State Kennel Club; American Heritage Festival; Fiddle Group, Pelican Fest, and Sheep Shed Ministries, a total of only eight multi-day events at a revenue of $500 per day, but only for the main event days. Setup-teardown days were given free, as many as seven in one case.

We have to ask, is this any way to run a business?

Some important decisions need to be made.

Should the city hire an employee to promote and market the Center?
Arguments can be made that there is more business out there, just for the asking. Where there are fish, there are more fish. If we are spending $100,000 a year to keep up the building certainly some funds can be found to employee a person to promote and take bookings and formulate a marketing plan. The Grove Chamber and Grand Lake Association received $27,000 and $6,000, respectively, last year from the city. Lisa Friden, Chamber Manager, said they do not promote the Civic Center and leave that to the Grove Economic Development people.
We find this disturbing.
Deb Wolek, Executive Director of the Grand Lake Association, said they do aggressively promote the Civic Center and refer the bookings to City Hall. "We mention it to all prospective groups," she said.
If the Chamber is not going to promote the Center to potential visitors, perhaps the city should use this money for a promotional person for the Center, and perhaps within the Parks and Recreation Department rather than Economic Development. Overnight visitors who come to Grove to use the Civic Center also spend money on accommodations and food, generating sales tax revenue for the city and income for the local businesses.

The matter of rent. A charge of $500 a day for 137,000 square feet is ludicrous. And free rent for setup/teardown days needs to change as well. We should be charging at least half rental for setup days. And why do we need to give free space to local for- profit businesses?

Improvements and Modifications. Should we spend money to make the building more attractive with structural changes such as breakout rooms for smaller groups, or use of colorful banners, or refacing the entry?

Repairs. What should we do about the major repairs facing the building for roof leaks and AC units?

Do Nothing. Some argue that it is used by walkers almost every day as an indoor health club; it is a service of the city and it is OK to lose money as it was never intended to produce a profit, much like a city park or library. In today's world, we do not see this as an option.

Put up the For Sale Sign. If the city can get $3.5 or $4 million for the building and land, why not sell it and use the money to build a new state of the art facility that would accommodate a multitude of different events, from city meetings to concerts, and small trade shows. The current City Hall building suffers from lack of space and is grim in appearance. In fact, its facilities could be built as part of a new multi-purpose center and the present City Hall building could be sold or used as a new police station, sheriff's substation, auto tag office, or other use.

What does the public think? A simple market research questionnaire could be mailed out to the GMSA customer list to determine their wishes.

There are some on the City Council who advocate a go-slow plan for a new events center.
We would say that at $86,000 a year cost to taxpayers, we'd rather have this issue put on a faster track.