City concerned about costs of tourism events

Local News

November 27, 2009

Ronica Shannon The Richmond Register Fri Nov 27, 2009, 08:19 PM EST

Richmond’s Touchstone Energy All “A” Classic and the annual Fourth of July celebration have yet to be eliminated because of city financial strains, but work is being completed to find a less-expensive way to keep the two events that have been a community tradition for many years.

Interim City Manager Jimmy Howard and Lori Tatum, Richmond’s tourism and Main Street department director, discussed the events’ costs at Tuesday’s commission meeting.

Howard is meeting Monday with Eastern Kentucky University President Doug Whitlock and other university representatives to discuss the cost the university charges for use of Alumni Coliseum during the five-day basketball tournament that will be hosted in late January.

The city is obligated to a three-year contract with EKU for the facility’s use, which costs almost $50,000 annually.

This fee includes payment of several services, including the coliseum rental, rental fees for classrooms located in the basement of the coliseum, the auxiliary gymnasium and facility services, which includes overtime and employee benefits for an EKU maintenance staff.

After the city provides food for the tournament, the overall cost is about $67,000, Tatum said.

EKU’s Alumni Coliseum has been the hosting location for the Touchstone Energy All “A” Classic for about 19 years.

“When they first came to the university, we didn’t pay anything,” she said.

However, based on a past 10-year contract between the city and EKU, the city only was obligated to pay $15,600.

EKU representatives later approached Mayor Connie Lawson and former City Manager David Evans about the idea of raising the cost of the contract to help compensate for EKU’s expenses, which were continuing to increase.

Monday’s meeting with college representatives will be the first formal gathering to discuss the possibility of lowering the rental costs, Tatum said.

“I know the mayor has written letters in the past (to EKU representatives) to express concerns about the cost, but in the university’s defense, they’re trying to break even, and I know they have their own budgeting restraints,” she said. “It’s nobody’s fault. It is unfortunate financial circumstances for everybody.”

Tatum suggested to the All “A” Classic board of directors that ticket prices be raised by $1 to allow the city to collect that extra dollar on admission to games, but the board has a set of their own concerns, she said.

“They are a non-profit organization, and all of the money they receive through Touchstone Energy, who is their major sponsor, goes back to students in the form of scholarships,” Tatum said. “The All “A” (organization) pays for the schools to compete, and they don’t feel at this time that they can raise the price of their tickets to be able to cover (the city’s) cost. Any amount of money they have to give us is taking away money from the kids.”

The level of competition for hosting the tournament also is something that needs to be considered, she said.

“There are other towns that are courting them to come there,” she said.

Tatum already has received phone calls from local hotel and motel owners who are concerned about the possibility of Richmond no longer hosting the annual basketball tournament.

“They say they have to have that revenue (from those staying in town for the tournament) to survive the winter because January and February are their lowest revenue-producing months,” she said.

As for the 2010 Touchstone Energy All “A” Classic, “ ... we have a contract this year, so that’s going to happen,” Tatum said.

Next year’s Fourth of July Celebration at Lake Reba Recreational Complex also results in hefty costs for the city.

“The fireworks alone cost $50,000,” Howard said.

After the fireworks are purchased and musical entertainment is hired — which usually includes several local opening bands and a headline act — the total cost to the city is about $100,000, he said.

“I’m not willing to spend taxpayer money for that when there’s streets that need to be paved,” he said. “We simply can’t afford it. My idea is to find sponsors, and if we raise $20,000, we’ll use that to have fireworks.”

Tatum said she liked the idea of receiving local and/or corporate sponsorship for the Fourth of July celebration, but also wants to be realistic when considering what is needed to maintain the event’s quality.

Seeking sponsorship for the amount needed realistically may not be achievable, she said.

“It’s going to be harder, especially in these economic times, to get sponsors,” Tatum said.

Cutting back on costs for next year’s Fourth of July annual celebration is something Tatum said she would like to discuss with representatives from other community sectors, such as the Richmond Chamber of Commerce, “ ... and find a way to change the event.”

This could possibly result in a slightly smaller venue than in past years, but no definite changes have been discussed yet, she said.

Anyone with ideas about ways to help lower costs for this year’s Fourth of July celebration, or who would like to offer individual or corporate sponsorship for the event, can call the tourism department at 626-8474.

Ronica Shannon can be reached at rshannon@richmondregister.com or 624-6608.

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