9,487
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
needs more work still
The [[Pensacola Civic Center]] is a municipal arena in [[downtown Pensacola]] owned by [[Escambia County]]. With 23,000 square feet of exhibition space, 13,000 square feet of meeting space, and a 10,000-person maximum capacity, it is one of the largest structures in the Pensacola area. Managed by the Toronto-based SMG (which also manages the [[Saenger Theatre]]) the Civic Center is the primary home to the [[Pensacola Ice Pilots]] and frequently hosts concerts, trade shows, graduation ceremonies and other events.
==Upcoming eventsHistory==*The Civic Center was built in [[Wikipedia:Martina McBride1985]] with the help of $12.5 million in state funding procured by State Senator [[W. D. Childers]]. In Childers' honor, the stretches of [[Chase Street|Martina McBrideChase]] – and [[Gregory Street]]s that surround the complex were renamed [[W. D. Childers Plaza]] in {{date needed}}. In August 2001, in a year with only five booked concerts, none of which sold out,<ref>"Civic Center enjoying the sweet sound of music." ''Pensacola News Journal'', May 69, 2003.</ref> then-[[Escambia County Commission|County Commissioner]]Childers decried the Civic Center as an "albatross" for its failure to turn a profit and pursued an incentive-based contract with the management company.<ref>"W.D. shaping up for year 2." ''Pensacola News Journal'', November 18, 2001.</ref> [[May 7|7Ogden Enterprises]], which had managed the Civic Center since its opening, had failed to turn a profit every year excluding [[1997]], the Ice Pilots' inaugural year, when they turned a $4,800 profit.<ref name="notprofitable">"Entertainment venues often aren't profitable, but Escambia officials want their subsidized facility to do better." ''Pensacola News Journal'', August 30, 2002.</ref> When Ogden was bought by [[2007Wikipedia:Aramark|Aramark]], they turned over the management portion of their contract to SMG. When the venue began to show signs of vitality, Childers amended his previous statement: "It was an albatross, but maybe we can make an eagle out of it."<ref name="bouncingback">"Concert venue bouncing back." ''Pensacola News Journal'', March 18, 2002.</ref> {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"|+Civic Center operating budgets<ref name="notprofitable"/><ref name="bouncingback"/>|-! Year !! Operating profit/loss !! Number of concerts|-! 1995-96| -$560,561<ref>Includes 84 closed for ice installation</ref> || 11|-! 1996-97| +$4,804 || 8|-! 1997-98| -$94,192 || 7|-! 1998-99| -$249,618 || 4|-! 1999-00| -$176,995 || 8|-! 2000-01| || |-! 2001-02| -$469,000 || 5 |-! 2002-03| || |-! 2003-04| || |-! 2004-05| || |-! 2005-06| || |-! 2006-07| || |-! 2007-08| || |} ==References=={{reflist}}
{{arch-stub}}
[[Category:Sports facilities]] [[Category:Music venues]] [[Category:Properties owned by Escambia County]]
