In the weeks since big-name acts were announced to grace the upcoming Saracen Event Center, business at the Pine Bluff Convention Center is booming.
Citizens and large companies alike are booking events at the convention center at a higher rate than in the past two years, according to data presented during a Civic Auditorium Complex Commission meeting last week. The commission is a mayor-appointed governing board that supports the nearly 50-year-old facility, which so far is disproving rumors of an inability to remain viable with entertainers such as Leslie Jones, John Legend and Jeff Foxworthy performing elsewhere in the city.
“We have a partnership with Saracen,” said Barbara Dunn, the convention center’s executive director. “I’ve worked very closely with (Saracen Chief Marketing Officer) Carlton Saffa, and he’s an amazing guy.”
The convention center draws a different audience from those expected to see the stars at Saracen, Dunn said, with events like February’s Monster Truck & Motorcycle show, fraternity and sorority-sponsored programs, and a vendor fair for Entergy’s Jefferson Power Station and Arkansas Cypress Solar and Battery projects held last Wednesday. The Hamid Circus sponsored by the Sahara Shrine Temple will host shows at 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. April 11-12, with the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff spring graduation and annual Black Rodeo in May, and baby showers, weddings and reunions to come. Mayor Vivian Flowers will also make her State of the City address at 6 p.m. Monday at the facility.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1881.
“When you have a family reunion, you’re going to bring your entire family,” Dunn said. “You’re going to bring from the toddlers all the way to the adults. With that being said, you have to be 21 (years old) to attend events at the casino.”
Dunn, in her present role since August 2024, does not fear the new venue at Saracen Casino Resort, set for its first show by comedian Jones on April 18, will deter business at her city-owned facility. Meanwhile, the Courtyard by Marriott hotel, scheduled to open July 30 next to the facility, is expected to make a more positive impression on convention center operations and revenue, according to a presentation by Business Manager and Comptroller Regina Jones.
“Those are some major concerts, but you know what? It will be an overflow and they will pack their hotel and they will come to our hotel, and vice-versa,” Dunn said. “We’re looking at bringing high school tournaments here, and of course we’ll be able to accommodate them here, and also there will be an overflow where parents and families may want to stay.”
The King Cotton Holiday Classic hosts some of the nation’s best high school basketball teams each December at the Convention Center, but Dunn hopes to bring in championship events such as the 2023 5A state basketball playoffs that saw Pine Bluff High School earn its ticket to — and eventually win — the boys championship game in Hot Springs over local favorite Lake Hamilton.
“One thing about it, when you bring your kids, you’re going to stay with your kids and you can go to the casino and play and you’re going to return back to our hotel,” Dunn said. “So, are we competing (with Saracen)? Absolutely not. It’s not a competition.”
Tim Adams, Saracen’s director of events, will speak to the Pine Bluff Regional Chamber of Commerce at its monthly luncheon at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday at the UAPB Business Support Incubator.
Eric Hobbs, operations security coordinator at the convention center, said Dunn has done a great job of partnering with local organizations that have or will sponsor events there.
“Any of these facilities cost money to rent out,” Hobbs said. “A lot of them don’t have funding to maximize and get their dollars’ worth, so Mrs. Dunn has done a great job of partnering with those different organizations to make sure this facility will be used at all times.”
Hobbs added community members would be proud that entities like Highland Pellets, TIC-The Industrial Company, Be Pro Be Proud, the regional chamber and Group Violence Intervention are using the convention center.
Dunn said family-friendly events are a focus of her facility, given that was the top response to a question she asked when she first started in her role.
“When you think of the circus, that is a family-friendly event,” she said. “Also, the monster trucks. So, now, individuals can come into Pine Bluff, which we had individuals come in from surrounding areas. With the hotel being built, they can stay right here and walk right across the convention center and attend the events.”
According to commission data, 50 events have been scheduled for this year at the convention center, with 42 of them paid bookings and eight in-kind. Four events have already been booked for 2027, none of them in-kind. The facility hosted 67 events (40 paid) in 2024 and 68 events (58 paid) in 2025.
The increase in events has resulted in a financial upswing for the commission. Its actual revenue for February, $166,460, has exceeded projections by almost $65,000, leading to a net of $68,143 for the month, well ahead of the projected $9,506. The net is a pendulum swing from minus $64,707 for February 2025.
Total 2026 revenues through Feb. 28, however, are just $612 shy of the projected $178,176, and total expenses of $219,419 are $23,952 more than the budget through that date, resulting in expenses greater than income by $41,855.
“We took a different approach,” Dunn said. “We have several returning clients, of course, and we have clients who have been here. … It’s just a matter of networking and doing follow-up events.”
Among them are the Jefferson County Master Gardeners, who are bringing a Home and Garden Show back to the convention center April 16-18 after a near-decade wait.
“We all need to get behind the Home and Garden Show,” Hobbs said. “That’s a big thing for our city and a lot of our vendors and people around the city.”
Despite the financial improvement, Dunn insists the convention center is not in business to make money.
“We are here for a purpose, and our purpose is to serve the community,” she said. “Alongside of that, you still have to keep the water on. You still have to keep the lights on to host the events.”
The convention center will celebrate its 50th anniversary June 27, one week before America commemorates its 250th Independence Day. Singer Dionne Warwick performed the first concert there on June 28, 1976, and the convention center has drawn other big names throughout its history since such as Elvis Presley, KISS and Willie Nelson, according to a 2020 newspaper article.
The University of Arkansas men’s basketball teams were regular performers at the arena through the 1992-93 season and hosted a preseason workout there in 2024.
Dunn said she has talked with potential purchasers for naming rights to the arena and ballroom to honor the golden anniversary.
“My ultimate goal is, if we can launch that and share that on our anniversary, that would be absolutely amazing,” she said.
The Arkansas Entertainers Hall of Fame is still housed at the convention center and is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, except for holidays. The most recent class, however, was inducted in 2015.
Asked about the convention center’s marketing efforts, Hobbs said the clientele would be the “voice box” for other potential organizers.
“We also do the Facebook and social media stuff and put it on our website and show our people we do a good job of maintaining the facility,” Hobbs said. “We have done a lot of upgrades since we’ve been here, and we talked about the hotel coming up. You build a $20 million hotel, and they want to see how much money we’re going to put in the Pine Bluff Convention Center. What are we going to do, aesthetically, fixing it up so it can go along and coincide with one another.
“The convention center is viable. It’s business going on every day.”
Details can be found on the Pine Bluff Convention Center’s website, or by calling (870) 536-7600.
