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November 8, 2004

Civic responsibility | The city of Lewiston tries to resuscitate the struggling Central Maine Civic Center

By Sean Donahue
As general manager of the Lewiston Colisee, the 45-year-old hockey arena formerly known as the Central Maine Civic Center, Wayne Thornton's goal is to generate revenue from every brick in the building ˆ— in some cases, literally.

In conjunction with a $2 million addition currently under construction ˆ— which will create office space, larger concessions facilities and a third-floor lounge for corporate customers ˆ— Thornton is pitching the Colisee "Walk of Fame," whereby local residents and small businesses can pay to have their name carved into a granite paving stone outside the building's new front entrance. His goal is to sell a minimum of 1,000 stones by next May, at $250 each for individuals and $500 for businesses.

The Walk of Fame is just one of Thornton's revenue-generating ideas pegged to his primary goal as facility manager: making the city-owned arena self-sufficient. Activity in the building got a big boost last year with the arrival of the Lewiston Maineiacs, a franchise of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League that recently began its second season in the Colisee (see "The second time around," p. 31). In order to capitalize on those 35 home games, Thornton is looking for ways to increase concessions and merchandise sales, as well as developing what he admits might seem like "kooky" ideas for promotions and sponsorships inside the building.

In addition to maximizing hockey-related revenues, Thornton's also striving to make the facility a destination for additional events, ranging from Jehovah's Witness conventions to heavy metal concerts. "We know we're going to make X percent of our money off the Maineiacs and the hockey season," says Thornton, who says it's too soon to determine just how much revenue the games will produce. "I've got to fill in the gaps with the other stuff, just finding out-of-the-box things that may not have been done here before, to help generate that revenue and make us independent."

For Thornton, who came to the Colisee in June after a career in sports marketing and consumer products promotions, that's meant talking with Lewiston-Auburn area businesses about everything from a new luxury club located on the Colisee's third floor to selling the naming rights to the building itself. But it's also meant finding ways to cut the Colisee's operating costs by making changes to staffing, traditional vendor relationships and day-to-day operations.

The focus on the bottom line is especially important because the city of Lewiston earlier this year paid about $5.8 million to take over the building from its previous owner. And local taxpayers, already edgy about property taxes, don't want to see their taxes increased next year to help subsidize the Colisee's operations, says City Administrator Jim Bennett.

With about $750,000 in annual fixed operating costs, the Colisee needs to host 24 to 36 additional events beyond Maineiacs games to break even, Bennett figures ˆ— not to mention maximizing the revenue potential from concessions, merchandise and promotions at each one of those events. "Anyone who knows anything about these facilities knows it's going to take some hustling to make that happen," says Bennett. "Most of these buildings do not break even."

Cutting costs, boosting revenues
Two years ago, the aging and run-down Central Maine Civic Center attracted the Lewiston Maineiacs in part by promising a host of renovations and improvements to the facility. But early this year, with many of those improvements behind schedule, the Maineiacs declared the facility in breach of its agreement and threatened to withhold rental payments. Fearful of losing the team ˆ— not to mention the $2 million in loan guarantees it had provided to former civic center owner Roger Theriault ˆ— the city decided its only recourse was to take over all that debt and acquire the facility outright, says Bennett.

But with ownership comes an even bigger responsibility: ensuring that the building, renamed the Colisee in February, not only cover its debt payments, but also be a self-sufficient operation that doesn't require future infusions of taxpayer money. To that end, one of Thornton's first tasks was to examine each item in the Colisee's operating budget to find potential savings. Simple steps such as switching the facility's phone service provider saved about $4,000 a year, says Thornton. He also found a company that makes paper versions of logos and other illustrations that can be embedded in a hockey rink's ice, rather than paying a contractor to hand-paint those images. That change lowered the cost of preparing the ice from more than $12,000 to about $5,000 this year.

With the hockey season underway, Thornton is testing new methods to bulk up the Colisee's primary revenue streams ˆ— concessions and merchandise sales, and sponsorship deals. Since the Colisee makes 30% of its overall revenues on concessions sales, splitting each concessions dollar 75/25 with the Maineiacs, Thornton is eager to move his food service staff into the expanded concessions area inside the new addition. But in the interim, he's added mobile beer stations and put a small, limited-menu concessions stand inside an old employee break room to help reduce lines and make it easier for fans to buy that extra hot dog or pretzel.

Thornton's also looking to increase relationships with local businesses for promotion and sponsorship deals. The trick is, the Maineiacs' lease gives the team the sole rights to sell all signage and sponsorships inside the building ˆ— from the logos on the ice and the boards to the banners hanging on the walls. That leaves Thornton looking for creative ways to sell space outside the building, such as the bricks on the Walk of Fame, or to build sponsorships around concessions and other operations.

For example, this year Thornton negotiated with Lewiston's Blue Goose Tavern to put its name and logo on 22-ounce souvenir cups sold at Maineiacs games and any other events in the Colisee this year. That mobile promotion also allowed Blue Goose owner Earl St. Hilaire to create a tie-in offer: a discount on beers at the Blue Goose for anyone bringing in the cup after a game. "Obviously, it gets my advertisement out there, and I think more people are going to see it on the cup" than on the rink's boards, says St. Hilaire.

Forget about last year
The biggest piece of Thornton's promotions campaign is the what he's calling the Colisee Power Play Premium Club ˆ— an upscale lounge on the third floor of the Colisee's new addition that's a cross between a corporate box and a country club. The idea, says Thornton, is for businesses to purchase a yearlong membership entitling them to a four- or six-seat table in the lounge. During games, the lounge will serve cocktails and a catered buffett (the price of which is not included in the membership, but will be billed to club members' accounts), and a view over the other seats onto the ice below.

With 23 tables of four, priced at $3,800 each, and five tables of six, priced at $4,500, the key question is whether demand from the local business community will be strong enough to make the club a success. But Thornton says he's sold about eight memberships already, and Matt McKnight, the Maineiacs vice president and governor, says local businesses already have shown strong interest in the Maineiacs. The team has about 70 corporate and small-business sponsors, and about half of its 1,700 season ticket holders are companies, says McKnight, who notes that the Power Play club is something the Colisee will offer in addition to, not instead of, season tickets. "It brings the whole facility up to another level in terms of prestige and first-class services," says McKnight.

For now, though, Thornton's sales effort is hindered by the fact that the addition is behind schedule and not expected to be completed until December, leaving potential club members with just renderings and descriptions of the facility to consider. That schedule also has slowed Thornton's other revenue-boosting initiative: hosting additional events around Maineiacs games to help cover operating costs. To augment the Maineiacs' annual base rent of $94,000, Thornton's goal is to hold at least two additional events per month, charging about $1,500 for non-commercial events, $2,000-$3,000 for commercial events and up to $5,000 for concerts.

But as he's been courting events he believes will fit with the Lewiston-Auburn community ˆ— ranging from old favorites like the Shriners Circus to heavy metal and country concerts ˆ— Thornton is finding it tough to sell the concept of a new, improved Colisee. "We have a reputation to overcome," says Thornton. "The building just wasn't in very good shape in the past, so all these people who have been here before approach it with skepticism."

Completing the renovations will go a long way toward overcoming that skepticism, Thornton says. And a fully operational, spiffy new Colisee also could help the city achieve its most ambitious goal: selling the building's naming rights. Though the effort is in its infancy, Thornton says he's researched previous naming deals to determine what might work for a smaller facility in a smaller market like Lewiston. But with City Administrator Jim Bennett hoping to secure $100,000 a year for a 10-year contract, the targets for a potential naming deal will be larger local or Maine-based corporations. If no Maine-based companies are interested, Thornton is ready to look for a regional or national business with ties to the area.

If Thornton and the city can land a sponsor, the Colisee will become the first facility in Maine sporting a corporate name. It's a break with the past that stands alongside the new ownership, new addition and new promotions ideas that Thornton hopes will bring the Colisee "into the 21st century," he says. "'Last year' ˆ— that's the phrase that I hate to hear," says Thornton. "I say to everybody, 'Give me the chance. Let's move forward, let's not talk about last year.'"

The second time around

Season number two looks good for the Lewiston Maineiacs, its aging home notwithstanding
Much of the success of the Lewiston Colisee rides on the success of its primary tenant, the Lewiston Maineiacs hockey team. A month into its second season, the team is optimistic about its appeal. "There has been a significant improvement in the team's outlook," says Matt McKnight, the Maineiacs' vice president and governor. "I think it's natural for the second year. Last year, we were selling a product where people had no idea what the level of the hockey was."

Lewiston is the only U.S.-based franchise in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, which grooms hockey players aged 16 to 20 for professional hockey careers. Despite the league's low profile on this side of the border, interest within the Lewiston-Auburn community is growing: This year, the Maineiacs have sold 1,700 season tickets, up from 955 last year.

Adding season ticket holders is one of the best ways to help the team meet its goal of selling an average of 3,000 tickets per game, says McKnight, the level at which the team can be prosperous as opposed to "just scraping by." So far this year, the Maineiacs have averaged 2,562 fans per game, up from about 2,000 last year, in an arena that holds about 4,000. This year's early-season number is respectable, McKnight says, given the competition throughout October from Red Sox playoff games.

Besides increased ticket sales, the team also is seeing strong growth in its second key revenue stream: selling promotions and advertising inside the Colisee. Promotions revenues are up 40% over last season, thanks to a sellout of the signage available inside the building. As a result, the team is planning to add another level of signs along the first-level seating rails to make more room for potential sponsors.

But like Colisee General Manager Wayne Thornton, McKnight is looking ahead to the completion of the Colisee's $2 million renovation. The expansion should eliminate problems in the old building, such as cramped concessions stands and a pro shop that can't be open every day, which would help both the Maineiacs and the Colisee increase the revenues they generate at each game. "There's not a bad seat in house," McKnight says. "We just have to get facility up to the level where you've got the conveniences people expect."

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