Published: October 10, 2008 09:22 am            

Arena report: Follow up with action

The coming months are a critical time for both the War Memorial Arena and the Johnstown Chiefs.

Cambria County has announced the results of a study into making the arena more of a viable community asset in many ways, including hosting the hockey franchise.

The study was produced by The Bassewitz Group, Spike Consulting Group and ProSports Consulting. It was funded by the county and the Johnstown Regional Partnership, which is made up of area business leaders seeking ways to enhance the economic climate of the city and surrounding region.

The arena is controlled by the War Memorial Authority, which is empowered by Cambria County government.

President Commissioner P.J. Stevens said it is the hope of county leaders that changes can be made that will enable the War Memorial to become a break-even venue in terms of revenue and expenses.

But there is a long way to go to reach that goal.

Steve Patterson, president of ProSports Consulting, said: “The arena has not been profitable for 15 years.” He called the War Memorial “an under-performing asset” – something of an oxymoron.

The study notes existing obstacles that would need to be overcome, including:

The War Memorial sits in the middle of a small market with an aging population, “offering limited access to new spectators and event attendees with expendable incomes.”

The War Memorial is an older venue – built in 1950 – with some facility-related shortcomings.

There is competition in the region – in State College, Hershey, Pittsburgh and even locally at IUP, St. Francis and UPJ.

The study makes numer-ous recommendations, including:

Privatizing management of the arena, either by turning the operations over entirely to an outside agency or by contracting for certain services.

Modernizing operations, including a computerized ticket sales system.

Offering more premium seating and luxury-box options.

Improving or expanding concessions areas and concourse space.

Providing “stronger oversight” of budgeting and management with more complete financial reports.

Capital upgrades, including the use of more attractive signing and installation of a new videoboard.

The report also suggests that the future of the hockey team and that of the arena are part and parcel – one cannot survive without the other.

Indeed, the Chiefs account for 72 percent of all events at the War Memorial, while the average for arenas across the ECHL is 29 percent.

The $37,500 study provides a fine starting point for charting a course for the arena, but there are no earth-shattering revelations in its 38 pages.

Indeed, a similar study done a decade ago drew many of the same conclusions and offered many of the same recommendations.

What failed to happen then was significant action spurred by the information gleaned through a study.

That can’t happen this time.

We applaud the county and the partnership for funding this project. And we thank the Chiefs and other organizations for opening their books and minds to help develop good ideas for the War Memorial.

But the study is finished.

Now, county leaders, team officials and representatives from city government and the business community must make sound decisions about the future of the arena, and then make those changes happen.

        

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