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DIRECTOR OPTIMISTIC ABOUT CONVENTION CENTER’S FUTURE

By Amy Riggin/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Monday, January 12, 2009 9:30 AM CST

Convention Center Director Bob Purvis acknowledges that the center’s usage has been on the decline for several years, but said he is optimistic about the future.

People pack 2008’s Business Expo, held annually at the Pine Bluff Convention Center. Commercial file photo/Ralph Fitzgerald

At the December joint meeting of the Civic Auditorium Complex Commission and the Advertising & Tourism Promotion Commission, commissioners passed the center’s 2009 budget, which is almost a mirror image of last year’s.

The center has budgeted revenue of $1.6 million for 2009, a 1.7 percent increase over last year’s budget. The increase is based on higher-than-expected revenue from advertising and promotion taxes collected by local restaurants and hotels, Purvis said. In fact, $1.48 million is expected in tax revenue, $127,500 in building revenue (almost a 14 percent decrease from last year’s budget) and $12,000 in food revenues (same as last year).

Expenses this year are expected to be $1.59 million, a 0.4 percent increase over last year’s budget. The commission expects a $34,000 surplus at the end of 2009.

“I think the reason that the budget is flat for next year is because of ... what was happening with the economy,” Joe Blackerby, finance chairman for the Civic Auditorium Complex Commission, said. “It would not have been real wise for us to project that there was going to be an increase with those things happening.”

Financial troubles began in 2001, Purvis said, when the state legislature cut turnback funding to convention centers because “money was real tight in state coffers.” Most of the centers were using the funding to pay back construction bond issues, Purvis said, so lawmakers agreed to keep funding those. But the Pine Bluff Convention Center did not fall into that category, and ultimately lost $700,000 in annual funding — a third of its annual budget.

Purvis said he has had to make program cuts and has shaved his staff down to 19, which is about half of what it was before the loss of funding.

David Maddox, chairman of the Civic Auditorium Complex Commission, agreed.

“Bob and his staff have really done an outstanding job working with the cutbacks we’ve made,” Maddox said. “Overall I think that the Convention Center is going to head back in the right direction in trying to get some new events to come to Pine Bluff. We are just really optimistic about the direction that we’re heading in.”

Three people were laid off a few years ago so that the center could use those funds to construct a new roof for its arena. Purvis said he was unable to secure state or federal funding, so the layoffs were essential.

The Convention Center has maintained the same sales and marketing budget of $235,000, which won’t change in 2009.

“But staying the same really isn’t good,” Purvis said, explaining that it hinders the staff’s ability to land new events.

Nonetheless, the city still provides good venues for conventions and athletic events, Purvis said.

One major selling point, at least in the last year, has been the Ramada Plaza, the hotel adjacent to the Convention Center.

After years of turmoil surrounding the hotel’s ownership and upkeep, Purvis said he is optimistic about the new owner, Bruce Rahmani of Arkansas Lodging LLC, who purchased the 200-room hotel in February 2007.

“(Rahmani) has spent a small fortune on it,” Purvis said, adding, “It’s the first time we’ve been optimistic about the hotel in six years ... It’s very important to have a franchise flag around a hotel.”

The center had to endure cancellations aplenty from groups that no longer wanted to stay in the facility, which had been neglected by previous owners, Purvis said.

“We would like to increase the usage and obviously up until recently the hotel issues have been a big deterrent to winning bids for conventions,” Blackerby said. “Large conventions want hotels and they want hotels that are adjacent to the building that they’re using.”

In 2004, program income (money brought in by events) was roughly $189,000. That figure increased by 13 percent to $214,000 in 2007.

“We do have less events in the building than we used to,” Purvis said. “We used to provide our own food service and all of the civic clubs met here. We quit doing food service ... and that took 200 events a year off our calendar about three years ago.”

He said now food service is provided by the hotel or caterers because the center was losing money on it.

One complaint that Purvis hears frequently is the lack of entertainment events booked at the center. But he said it is nearly impossible to compete with larger facilities like Alltel Arena in Little Rock and the Pyramid Arena in Memphis. That, coupled with the overall population decline in this area makes recruiting difficult.

One bright spot in the equation, Purvis said, is that the center recently booked a dog show with the Great Dane Club of America starting in 2010.

“It’ll be probably the biggest dog show we’ve ever had,” Purvis said. “I think we’re talking as many as 1,200 dogs and several hundred people.”

And Purvis added that, while the center actively recruits out-of-state groups, the staff also makes efforts to make the facility accessible to the community with permanent fixtures like the Arkansas Entertainers Hall of Fame and partnerships with the Red Cross and other agencies for community emergency drills.

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