Events Center public meeting 11-14 @ Dodge House.

[lurker]

I was using the paper this morning and (right between my paws and before my very eyes) I saw an advertisement announcing

The General Public is
Invited
to an Open House
to learn more about the Multi-Purpose Events
Center in Dodge City.

They know we aren't stewpid so the ad proclaims

Raffle Prizes
Food and Beverage Will Be Provided
Tuesday, November 14, 2006

7:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Wine and Hors-d'oeuvres
7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Presentation and Questions

The Dodge House
2508 West Wyatt Earp

[TexKan]

could this be the contractor that is hostin it???...... have they chosen a contractor? Surely the city isn't feedin the whole town!

[Detector]

The DodgeBoard Reporters will be there!

[Made in the USA]

Wine and Hors--quote

Sure, get us drunk and take advantage of us!!

[jeezeweeze]

Originally Posted by Made in the USA

Wine and Hors--quote

Sure, get us drunk and take advantage of us!!

Funny USA............dont forget to bring your gel

[Made in the USA]

I AM GELLING!!!! Thanks to Dr. Scholl's--------------

[lurker]

Originally Posted by Detector

The DodgeBoard Reporters will be there!

If'n they wuz weeley brite purmotors they'd WEBCAST 2nite's meeting on that fancy Dodge City, KS website they paid all that money to upgrade.

[K C Muffin]

Originally Posted by lurker

If'n they wuz weeley brite purmotors they'd WEBCAST 2nite's meeting on that fancy Dodge City, KS website they paid all that money to upgrade.

Hmm....they probly don't have the password or the knowledge to change that big fancy website.....

[Bronco-Fan]

Originally Posted by Made in the USA

Wine and Hors--quote

Sure, get us drunk and take advantage of us!!

They don't have to get you drunk to take advantage of you, how about a meeting about when the New Commissioners are going to tell our City Engineer to get busy on north 14th, I bet you won't see no work done on N 14th for a less another year,so they can show Mr Lee that one of His pet projects is not going to get done on his watch. Poor Radio Shack can't have the road tore up during CHRISTmas Season. and beside JAC has to get thru with the Civic Center First. What a Joke. Black top for fifty years and now all of a sudden it has to be JAG concrete. Got to keep Bid Daddy's grew working. and have you seen the exit curbing they are putting in.??

[Tee]

I attended tonights meeting.

KAKE News was there as well.

I am guessing that between 100-150 people attended. I saw Chamber Leaders, commissioners (Swayze, Sowers) and some other noteworthy people like Mitch Leonard, Dave Wetmoore, and Bill Traylor. Mitch was very vocal. Thanks Mitch!

This is the jist of what was discussed:

Dodge City wants to enter into a contract with Global Entertainment Marketing Systems.

What will they do? Well, we basically build the events center at a cost of between 24-45 million dollars, and then they take over management of it.

Management: What does this mean? It means they bring in the entertainment, they schedule the entertainment, and they handle pretty much every aspect of hiring staff, to running the whole thing.

Is this a center that we can use whenever we want for local events? NO, they have complete authority over what goes on in the building and when.

What about revenue brought in from the events? While it is true that the events center will most likely bring people in from outside the community to spend money at motels, gas stations etc, all the money spent at the events center goes to the management firm.

What kind of moneys do they expect to bring in? Well a typical sponsor sign will cost you from $1000-$10,000 annually. A luxury suite (like a premier box) will run you around $20,000 annually- there will be about 50 or so of these. A hospitality suite runs about $1000.00 per event. A club seat will run you about $1000.00 annually. Basic ticket prices depend on event, but for hockey, the cheapest seat will be around $15.00 just for the ticket. All concessions are extra, of course and all money goes to Global Entertainment Marketing Systems, based in Phoenix Arizona.

Does Dodge City or Ford County get any of this revenue? NO
Does any of this money stay in the community? NO, the entertainment firm gets it all.

Do we decide what kind of building we build? NO- they dictate the specs of the building, we build it.

What about shortfalls in funding, if any? This question was asked and ducked several times by the firm. In short, it looks like we could be responsible to subsidize if there are any shortfalls.

What kind of events will they have? Monster trucks, Concerts (Cher was discussed) Hockey, Trans Siberian Orchestra (sp?), Clay Aikens, ZZ Top, Pro wrestling, and many others were discussed but it was said that the lineup would be flexible and negotiated by the management firm- nothing concrete here.

So this is my take on the whole picture...

The special events center was sold as a way to bring dollars into our community. While I am sure that it will, all of the dollars spent at the events center will be leaving our community. We only benefit from dollars spent on residual sources, like hotels, motels, gas stations etc.

Will the money brought in from residual sources offset that which is spent at the events center and leaving the community? Highly unlikely! More probably is that the events center will create a huge deficit, more money leaving the community than coming in from outside the community.

We have to consider that maybe only about half the ticket purchasers will be from outside the community. The big ticket purchasers will most likely be from the bigwigs in Dodge City. Would someone from Ashland pay $20,000 for annual membership of a luxury suite- Unlikely!.

What is the contract term? 10 years, with an option for another ten years.

I feel like signing into this deal would be like making a deal with the devil, and we would be stuck with it for 20 years. And we could be hit with subsidizing it like we do the racetrack which means further costs to the taxpayers.

We build it, they reap the benefits of it and they keep the fortunes for themselves. Sure, I like the idea of attending a concert in Dodge City, but this deal scares the hell out of me.

This deal will drain money from our economy, especially among the lower and middle class, since they have no businesses that will benefit from this, and they will be the ones buying tickets, paying taxes to build the facility and to cover any shortfalls.

This is just my opinion.