Open house, concerts set for Fort Smith Convention Center

An open house and more big-name concerts are on tap for the Fort Smith Convention Center.

The Fort Smith Advertising and Promotion Commission will host a first-ever open house for the Fort Smith Convention Center. The event, held 5 to 8 p.m. on Oct. 11, is free and open to the public.

“Although it’s hosted thousands of events over the years, the Convention Center has never had a true Open House event for itself,” Mayor Sandy Sanders, who chairs the Fort Smith Advertising & Promotion Commission, noted in a statement. “This is an opportunity for people who may have only been to the Convention Center as event attendees to get the kind of site tour that our customers receive. It’s a neat thing. A lot of people have never had a chance to stand on the stage and see what the Performing Arts Center looks like from that perspective, or to see all the behind-the-scenes mechanics that keep the building operating and flexible for so many different types of events.”

The A&P will provide facility tours, and had invited “key local businesses that do business” with the center and its customers to attend.

“Vendors, small businesses and organizations that depend on the business and on the flexible-use space the Convention Center provides will be on hand to showcase their wares and services to the public. Refreshments will be served, compliments of some of the facility’s caterers from the hotel and restaurant community,” noted the statement.

The goal of the open house, which will become an annual event, is to “highlight the considerable assets, capabilities, and growth potential of this $40 million facility,” according to the A&P.

AUGUST REPORT
Claude Legris, the A&P executive director, said Tuesday (Sept. 27) that August revenue at the convention center was $27,459, up 23% compared to August 2010.

However, expenses totaled $120,756 during the month, thanks to annual insurance payments of more than $44,000. The utility bill was more than $20,000, Legris said.

“You remember what the weather was like here in August,” Legris reminded.

The fund balance for the center is $548,470, which provides roughly eight months of funding support for the convention center. A 1% prepared food tax has been proposed to provide an estimated $1.8 million in revenue to support the center and an expanded effort to promote and manage the center. The election is set for Nov. 8. If voters reject the tax, funding will come from the city’s general fund. (Link here for a detailed report and other links related to convention center funding.)

CONCERT NEWS
Legris said part of the gain in August was $6,858 from the Brantley Gilbert concert. He said rent, $1 per ticket and a percentage on beverage and t-shirt sales helped create good revenue from the sold-out, one-night concert.

Gilbert is expected to return to the convention center in January.

“That’s how pleased that promoter is because they want to bring him back,” Legris said.

Legris predicts a similar revenue boost from the upcoming Oct. 10 Bryan Adams concert. Also, Legris said George Jones is scheduled to return to the convention center after Thanksgiving. (Editor’s note: This previous sentence has been corrected to reflect that George Jones and not Willie Nelson is planning a post-Thanksgiving concert in Fort Smith.)

“We are starting to see more entertainment coming in here,” Legris said. “And with the concerts, we get, with the t-shirts and beverage sales and all that, we get more elements that feed the revenue stream.”