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The Salina Journal from Salina, Kansas • Page 5

Location:
Salina, Kansas
Issue Date:
Page:
5
Extracted Article Text (OCR)

THE SALINA JOURNAL SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 1999 20 YEARS OF SALINA BICENTENNIAL CENTER Highest gross revenue, multi-night events Ice Capades, 199S (4 shows) $159,302 Kenny Rogers, 1979 (2 shows) $158,300 IceCapades, 1993 (6 shows) $134,864 Holiday On Ice, 1979 (8 shows) $118,459 Big-8 Women's Basketball Tournament (4 days) $108,360 Highest gross revenue, single-night events LeAnn White, 1998' Brooks Tillis, 1993 Kenny Rogers Christmas Show, 1995 Kenny Rogers, 1981 Randy Travis, 1991 $119,302 $116,748 LeAnn Rimes performs in concert with Bryan White on Jan. 1,1998. Best paid attendance (excludes free passes) Kansas Cagerz Basketball Season, 1999 23,268 4A State Basketball Tournament, 1988 20,922 4A State Basketball Tournament, 1990 20,203 Holiday On Ice, 1979 19,657 4A State Basketball Tournament, 1992 19,086 Top Bicentennial Center revenue, multi-night events Kansas Cagerz Basketball Season, 1999 Big-8 Women's Basketball Tournament, 1996 $41,978 4A State Basketball Tournament, 1996 $36,557 Big-8 Women's Basketball Tournament, 1995 $36,496 4A State Basketball Tournament, 1995 $35,144 File photos The Ice Capades perform at the Salina Blcentennical Center Oct. 26,1996. Kansas Cagerz play the Tampa Bay Windjammers June 6,1999.

Concerts have made center popular FROM PAGE A1 After the third vote failed in 1973, the dream of an events center something the larger cities of Topeka and Wichita wouldn't have for years was given new life by the patriotic buzz wafting through the country in the bicentennial year. That year, 1976, also was the first year of the Smoky Hill River Festival. The festival was staged downtown as a way to celebrate the nation's Declaration of Independence. Since then it's been headquartered in Oakdale Park. "There was a tremendous, harmonious spirit in Salina in 1976," Duckers said.

The vote: 9,649 to 7,469. Oddly, the events center that was conceived as a way of saving downtown Salina, wasn't built downtown. Instead, it's in Kenwood Park, several blocks east of downtown. First concert a sellout The complex was completed in 1979, and the first concert booked for June 2 and featuring the Osmonds was a sellout with 7,300 people in attendance. The early concerts won over some naysayers.

"When the acts came in there was a little change of heart," Meyer said. "I heard people talking around town after the concert, saying how great the facility was." For years, through the 1980s and up until about 1995, the center brought in some of the biggest names in rock and country mu- World Championship Wrestling performance at the Bicentennial Center Nov. 17,1998. Best Bicentennial Center revenue, single-night WCW Wrestling, 1998 events $34,511 R.E.O. Speedwagon, 1984 $25,802 LeAnn Bryan White, 1998 Randy Alan Jackson, 1 991 Loverboy, 1986 $24,664 $22,884 $21,991 Worst BiCenter revenue Myron Floren, 1980 Duke Ellington, 1980 Tommy Dorsey, 1981 Four Freshman, 1 980 D.

Kingston Trio, 1979 ,545 ,594 Novelty spending per person, based on total attendance WCW Wrestling, 1998 KISS, 1990 Brooks Pam Tillis, 1993 Ratt, 1985 Motley Crue, 1994 $7.71 $7.30 $5.83 $5.63 $5.59 sic. Kenny Rogers played sold-out shows, monster-rock band Motley Crue came through in 1994, and country-music award-winner Vince Gill played in front of more than 4,000 people in 1992, to name just three. And basketball, especially the Big 8 Women's Basketball Tournament that was staged here for several years, always has been a big draw. In recent years, the number of concerts has fallen, and Karen Fallis, assistant manager, said she hears some complaints about that. But the reason for the falloff, she said, is the changed nature of the entertainment business.

Fewer acts take to the road in the age of MTV, where bands can get more exposure in a few videos than they can from a year of grinding it out on the road, playing a barrage of cities. Also, large country festivals that feature several bands, such as Country Stampede held just outside Manhattan and Lollapalooza and Lilith Fair, both of which feature rock and alternative-music acts, detract from what the Bicentennial Center can bring in. The competing Expo Center in Topeka and the Kansas Coliseum in Wichita also have hurt the Bicentennial Center's opportunities for concerts. So far this year, no music con- certs have been staged at the events center. The Alabama concert be the first.

Still, Fallis said, "Events other than entertainment have steadily increased." Guessing what events will do well in drawing an audience in Salina can be tough, Fallis said. Selling tickets for big-name country-music star Travis Tritt two years ago "was like pulling teeth," Fallis said. In contrast, the popularity of World Championship Wrestling, which drew a crowd of more than 5,000 last year, "was the surprise of my life." "You never know what for sure will sell," she said. Sometimes, Fallis said, quality concerts are turned away because the events center is booked. The addition this year of a full schedule of home Kansas Cagerz professional basketball games made it especially difficult to secure dates for music acts.

"Probably 70 percent of the time when a promoter calls, we don't have the date," she said. Not self-supporting Annually, about 60 percent of the event center's more than $1 million budget is covered by revenue generated by the center. The rest is covered by the city and a transient guest tax collected by motels. Fallis said the subsidy is a sound investment, because the events center pumps significant sums of money into the local economy. So what's in the future? More trade shows, conventions and possibly entertainment such as the two Broadway touring musicals slated for November and February.

Meyer, who started out as an event attendant, setting up rooms for events, said he isn't worried about the future of the Bicentennial Center. "I see us expanding," Meyer said. "I don't see us slowing down." Reporter Nate Jenkins can be reached at 823-6464, Ext. 139, or by e-mail at corn. Worst paid attendance (excludes free passes) All Star Wrestling, 1986 258 Four Freshman, 1980 221 Johnny JanaJae, 1981 220 Woody Herman, 1987 142 Topeka Sizzlers Basketball Game, 1988 123 Concession spending per person, based on total attendance The Flippers and Last National Band, 1994 Hatchet and LNB, 1993 1991 Artie Shaw Orchestra, 1987 Chippendales, 1987 $5.71 $3.89 $3.60 Monster truck at a tailgate party Feb.

8,1998..

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About The Salina Journal Archive

Pages Available:
477,718
Years Available:
1951-2009