Portland arena likely to outsource management
The arena formerly known as Cumberland County Civic Center may soon hand management over to one of two Pennsylvania-based firms that are currently in talks with the arena’s board.
The Forecaster reported that the Cross Insurance Arena’s board of trustees is expected to select one of the two bidding companies by Sept. 17 for management responsibilities.
Steven Crane, the area’s longtime general manager, retired in July and has been an advocate of privatizing management for the publicly owned arena, the newspaper noted.
The two Pennsylvania companies that responded to the board’s request for management proposals are SMG, a property management firm that manages publicly owned arenas across the world, and Global Spectrum, a subsidiary of Comcast Corp. that manages and operates the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor among many other publicly owned arenas.
The Forecaster noted that it’s unclear how the privatization of management would impact current workers who are employed by the county, though the winning management firm could re-hire the workers once it takes over.
Neal Pratt, the board’s chairman, said the privatization of arena management would benefit the Cross Insurance Arena by strengthening its business connections and marketing influence in order to attracting larger events that may generate more profits. It may cost more at first to privatize management, he added, but it could pay off in the long run.
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