Photo / Maureen Milliken
The city-owned Augusta Civic Center is finding ways to squeeze out small revenues until it can get back into the black.
December 10, 2020
Augusta Civic Center finding ways to slow the revenue-loss spiral
Courtesy / Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry
The 2018 Agricultural Trades Show brought thousands to the Augusta Civic Center. The 80th edition of the show this year will be held online.
By Maureen Milliken
When the Maine Legislature met for swearing-in day Dec. 2, it was at the Augusta Civic Center, across the city from the State House, so the 186 members of the House and Senate could keep their distance amid the state's COVID-19 surge.
It's anyone's guess, including Civic Center Director Earl Kingsbury's, whether the legislators will be back. But the fees the arena received were a small shot in the arm until people can hold large events there again.
The city-owned Augusta Civic Center finished the 2018-19 fiscal year around $250,000 in the black and was on track for a similar finish in June, capping off a record five-year run.
In March, the Civic Center was heading into its busiest time of year, with a variety of corporate conventions, trade shows, rock shows, high school graduations and other events. Then the pandemic hit.
When the numbers were tallied when the fiscal year ended June 30, the Civic Center was about $510,000 in the red. "It was a spiral we couldn't stop," Kingsbury said.
The venue has been limping along with small corporate gatherings, limited to a maximum 50 attendees, but finished the first quarter of this fiscal year $98,617 in the red. Kingsbury expects the second quarter to be a $160,000 hit.
The visit from the Legislature, which included three days of activity and seven days of setup, raked in $21,000.
The Legislature doesn't meet in full again until January, if then, and its use of the Civic Center is up in the air.
"Committee meetings will continue to take place virtually with likely a few lawmakers physically at the Statehouse as of now," Christine Kirby, communications director for the Office of the Senate President. "However, it’s unclear when the full Legislature will need to meet and where they will do so."
She said the full body may not need to meet until February or March, and it will depend on the nature of the pandemic at the time.
"The Civic Center is a good option if we need it," she said.
Kingsbury is hoping they do. "They were very good tenants," he said. "I'd host them again in a second."
Huge domino effect
The economic impact of the stay by legislators, their staff and the media allowed into the arena goes beyond just the venue, Kingsbury said. Contractors are hired for audio-visual work, for instance. Local businesses see a lot more action, including at the Market Place at Augusta, with 1.3 million square feet of retail and restaurant space, across the street.
"The domino effect is huge," he said.
When the Civic Center hosts an event like the annual 2,500-member Jehovah's Witnesses regional conference, the event infuses hundreds of thousands of dollars into the area.
While the 6,000-seat venue hosts dozens of concerts a year, the big money-makers are corporate conventions that bring in hundreds of people for several days. For instance, Hammond Lumber holds an annual conference in May with 800 attendees.
The Civic Center makes all its food in-house, and can provide up to 5,000 meals a week.
"We went from that a week to zero," he said.
Smaller conferences are still being held. The Maine Fire Marshal Association had a nine-day training at the center recently; the Red Cross holds regular blood drives there.
It costs about $206,000 a month to run the Civic Center, which was built in 1973. Lighting and other efficiency upgrades have added some bond debt. In the first quarter of the 2020-21 fiscal year, it took in a little more than half of that, resulting in the $98,617 deficit.
Kingsbury said the Augusta City Council and city government have been very supportive. When most of the Civic Center's 14-member staff was laid off earlier this year, the city hired many of them for seasonal full-time jobs that had to be filled.
"It's owned by the city, and the city is a big company," he said. And a good company, he added. "I'm just blown away by the leadership in this city."
Kingsbury has no idea what will happen for the next seven months of this fiscal year. That's both in the short term, as whether Legislature will be back, or the long-term, like February's high school basketball tournaments, which are held there. The big months of March through June are also a question mark. Still, he keeps a positive outlook.
"Things could be worse," he said. "We're bleeding, but not bleeding out."
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