The Providence Civic Center these days is rife with change. Workers outside are repairing concrete work; inside, walls are being painted, seats upgraded, carpets replaced.
On the executive level, management is courting corporate support. Recently, area executives gathered there for a business after-hours, where they learned of advertising opportunities the center offers. A major customer survey initiative is in the works.
The changes come as the center seeks to reinvigorate itself. Celebrating 25 years in Providence this year, the center is trying to shake off a $1.2 million budget deficit, while adapting to an entertainment market that has changed dramatically in recent years.
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But with new management, a nearly $2 million capital improvement program, and efforts to sell its naming rights, officials say they are optimistic about the future.
“It’s a jewel of a building,” said Providence Mayor Vincent A. Cianci Jr. “It’s a wonderful place.”
The challenge is convincing entertainers of that. The center opened in 1972 after city voters in 1969 and 1970 raised the $12 million needed to build it. It served Providence College basketball, Rhode Island Reds hockey, and the Moscow Circus. And, traditionally, concerts and family-oriented programs produced surplus revenues that powered the arena.
But in recent years, that revenue source has dried up. The reasons are varied. Unlike the 1970s and 1980s, when producers could count on a steady stream of major acts to sell out arenas, today’s bands tour less frequently. And when they do tour, experts say, they prefer to play outside.
Thus, competition from Great Woods and Harborlights in Boston has bitten into the arena industry’s menu.
“Who’s replaced the Rolling Stones? Who’s out there annually, or even every two years, that can sell 12,000 to 15,000 tickets?” asked Harold Bannon, director of East Coast operations for Ogden Entertainment Services, the private management firm that took over the center 10 months ago. “There’s not many.”
And even big performers sometimes meet lukewarm support. For example, singer Janet Jackson — who will play the Worcester Centrum and the Fleet Center in Boston, but not Providence — has had sporadic ticket sales nationally, Bannon said. MTV has also hurt the business, he said.
“It’s not like the ’80s; today’s bands are hit or miss,” he said. “There’s not a coliseum in the country that does the concert business they used to do.”
Still, some markets do better than others. Fleet Center events sell exceptionally well, said New England Ticket Network owner Geoff LeCam. He cites the current Elton John tour, which has yet to sell out at Connecticut’s Hartford Civic Center. By contrast, “people were donating organs to get tickets” when John played Boston last spring, he said.
“
I think Providence is considered a secondary market in the concert industry,” LeCam said. “They’re definitely bigger spenders in Massachusetts.”
All of these forces have combined over the years to put the center in a financial hole. Part of its comeback plan, however, includes attracting more events. Teen pop stars, the Backstreet Boys, recently played there, for example. Other markets can be exploited, officials said.
“We have to be realistic,” said Thomas M. Glavin, secretary of the Providence Civic Center Authority, which oversees its operations.
“We’re not Boston, we’re not Hartford in the New York market, (but) we feel we have a real niche to fill. I’m very optimistic that this is a viable building.”
But eliminating the deficit will take more than attracting new shows. Bannon said the center is looking at every aspect of its operations to find ways to reduce costs. A big part of the plan is selling more advertising, including the sale of its naming rights, which could bring in from $400,000 to $600,000 per year, said Sean M. McHugh, marketing director for the center.
The state is another potential revenue source. Cianci has argued, in vain so far, that the center should be included in the state’s Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) program. Given the center’s economic impact, he said, it deserves state support.
“I’m not asking for anything we don’t deserve,” Cianci said.
Glavin agrees.
“It’s a major economic generator, and I think the state assembly should look at it as such,” he said. “I really feel that that message has not been clearly understood by some of the people in the State House.”
A conversation with downtown business owners will confirm that.
“Awesome,” said Joe Peixoto, general manager of Players Corner Pub, when asked about the center’s impact on his business.
“Pretty much anything they do generates some business,” agreed Mike Dolan, a bartender at Trinity Brewhouse on Fountain Street, opposite the Civic Center, noting that the center’s annual University of Rhode Island-University of Massachusetts, Amherst basketball game is particularly good.
John Rooke, spokesman for Gov. Lincoln Almond, said the governor recognizes the center’s economic importance and would consider requests for state support.
Still, no one is predicting instant miracles. Kristen Stone, owner of City Ticket in Providence, noted that it’s difficult to compete with more popular venues — Foxwoods Casino, for example — and that the departure of longtime promoter Frank J. Russo has hurt the Providence concert business.
And it will be some time before the city determines whether the center can in fact make a complete turnaround. While Cianci said he does not expect the city to consider selling the building, Glavin said the city will consider all of its options if the center fails to rebound in the next few years.
For now, however, civic center officials are looking to the future. Luxury boxes, a new sound system, and a video scoreboard to replace the current dot-matrix system are among improvements the center is considering, McHugh said.
McHugh, who worked at the old Boston Garden before coming to Providence, noted that the building is a busy ‘B’ market arena, with three tenants — URI, Providence College, and the Providence Bruins — and has 135 events per year. By comparison, the Garden held about 116 events per year, he said.
Ogden, which manages arenas across the country, said it will use its influence to bring acts to Providence. But Bannon noted that there are factors to consider besides the number of shows and their attendance.
“You ( would) like to turn the lights on every day of the week, but obviously that’s not possible,” he said. “Our mission is to keep the building active. You look at an event that is good for the community (and) it’s economic impact. It doesn’t have to be a home run every time.”
