Kevin Donnelly

4
2005/2006 Edition 37 CONCERT VENUE DIRECTOR CONCERT VENUE DIRECTOR CONCERT VENUE DIRECTOR CONCERT VENUE DIRECTOR CONCERT VENUE DIRECTORY EXECUTIVE INTERVIEW EXECUTIVE INTERVIEW EXECUTIVE INTERVIEW EXECUTIVE INTERVIEW EXECUTIVE INTERVIEW to the city. But then, as Kevin Donnelly says, there was an “evaporation of the local promot- ers.” Consolidation moved in, and Donnelly moved out. The promoter was a longtime resident of Winnipeg, working at Nite Out Entertainment, an affiliate of Michael Cohl’s CPI network. He moved to Vancouver in the mid-’90s to take charge of the Universal Enter- tainment office, which transformed into House of Blues Concerts. Meanwhile, with consolidation, promoters focused on the entire region, and Winnipeg got lost in the shuffle. “The shows didn’t come as frequently,” Donnelly said, adding that the country’s exchange rate added to the dwindling traffic. Over the years, Donnelly got a little venue experience. He helped save a 1,500-seat theatre in Winnipeg from the wrecking ball and, with the help of House of Blues Concerts, reopened Vancouver’s Commodore Ballroom. But he was, plain and simple, a promoter when the owners of the team that replaced the NHL’s bygone Winnipeg Jets asked him to help build and run a privately owned arena which would house the new team, the AHL’s Manitoba Moose. Oh, and while he was at it, would he run the existing Winnipeg Arena? Donnelly was up to the challenge, but first he had to convince the investors he was the right man for the job. “I said, ‘Fifteen years ago, the best promoters were starting to think as venues. Promoters started to buy and operate sheds, and were operating theatres and clubs. Today, the best facilities are think- ing and acting like promoters.’ “So, if they were worried about my skill sets fitting what they needed, they needed to consider that statement and weigh whether that made sense to them. It obviously did.” He operated the Winnipeg Arena until November 15th, when the 15,000-capacity MTS Centre de- buted. At Mid-Year 2005, the facility ranked 23 on Pollstar’s Top 100 Arenas chart, selling nearly 112,000 tickets. Along with hosting the Juno Awards, the arena has brought in Foo Fighters, Def Leppard, Hilary Duff, and Cher, among others. On the books are Billy Idol, Backstreet Boys, Pearl Jam, Robert Plant, System Of A Down, Gwen Stefani, Audioslave, Paul Anka, George Jones, Celtic Tiger, Nine Inch Nails, Andre Rieu, and Judas Priest. When you were first hired, how did your promotion experience apply at the Winnipeg Arena? A It was a challenging environ- ment because the employees saw the writing on the wall. Everyone knew a new, privately owned arena was likely going to be built and I was going to be part of that, so my arrival heralded the beginning of the end for most of these people, and also for the patrons coming through. Everyone had their own specific complaints: The arena was too old, the sound was too bad, the washrooms were decrepit or not functioning, and the seats and concessions were not a winning experience. It was tough to come in with all the best intentions but the market had gone stagnant. I had to get that market excited again about seeing concerts immediately in the old building, and re-excite the staff into improving the patron experience, the artist’s experience and promoter’s experience. And I had very few resources to rein- vest into improving the space. The upside is, I managed to do both: I managed to get staff excited about the challenge because I presented them with, “If you do a good job here, if you see the vision that I see, you’ll come with me to the new build- ing.” I was able to weed out some of the staff that weren’t part of that picture and took some skilled people with me who were excited by all a new facility holds – new opportunity, new challenges, new tools and toys, new score clocks and ice plants, new audio equip- ment and a new loading dock. And I worked the promoter side, increasing traffic and getting people excited, getting shows happening and I was moderately successful, given that the town was lackadaisical about seeing shows. When we opened the MTS Cen- ter on November 15th, we were able to excite the marketplace and we’ve had a tremendous run since. We’ve been extremely busy. People enjoy the experience, padded seats, great acoustics, great facili- ties including washrooms and concessions. Considering we’re a $125 million Canadian building, we got really great value out of the money. I think the general impres- sion of people in the arena indus- try who’ve visited the building is that it’s a more expensive building. I think we got really great value from the suppliers and the con- tractors for the price we paid. When you were on the planning committee in 2001, did your background help? A Absolutely. I didn’t pretend to know a lot about what the hockey teams needed but I had a lengthy list called my “rock ‘n’ roll list.” It had dressing rooms, it had everything from quantity, furnishings and fixtures to the layout, loading dock, loading access, rigging grid, drapery system and power – whether it was the dispersal in the backstage area, how much or where. I have a moveable drape on a track that can either frame a full arena setup in a full concert mode, it can dress the back or it can slide 130 feet forward and create a nice 3,200-seat concert hall environment. The old mindset used to be that a promoter’s work wasn’t necessarily the facility’s work. But clearly the promoter’s success or lack thereof directly impacts the facility’s success. If the promoters aren’t attracting people, you’re not going to make any concession sales or rent any parking spots or sell any tickets, so we need to as- sist them. Therefore, having mar- Kevin Donnelly MTS Centre A bout 15 years ago, Winnipeg, Manitoba, was a rock ‘n’ roll town. Bon Jovi, AC/DC and Judas Priest would make regular, successful visits

Transcript of Kevin Donnelly

Page 1: Kevin Donnelly

2005/2006 Edition 37

CONCERT VENUE DIRECTORCONCERT VENUE DIRECTORCONCERT VENUE DIRECTORCONCERT VENUE DIRECTORCONCERT VENUE DIRECTORYYYYY EXECUTIVE INTERVIEWEXECUTIVE INTERVIEWEXECUTIVE INTERVIEWEXECUTIVE INTERVIEWEXECUTIVE INTERVIEW

to the city. But then, as KevinDonnelly says, there was an

“evaporation of the local promot-ers.” Consolidation moved in,and Donnelly moved out.

The promoter was a longtimeresident of Winnipeg, working atNite Out Entertainment, an affiliate

of Michael Cohl’s CPI network. Hemoved to Vancouver in the mid-’90sto take charge of the Universal Enter-tainment office, which transformed

into House of Blues Concerts.Meanwhile, with consolidation,

promoters focused on the entire

region, and Winnipeg got lost inthe shuffle.

“The shows didn’t come as

frequently,” Donnelly said, addingthat the country’s exchange rateadded to the dwindling traffic.

Over the years, Donnelly gota little venue experience. Hehelped save a 1,500-seat theatre

in Winnipeg from the wreckingball and, with the help of Houseof Blues Concerts, reopened

Vancouver’s Commodore Ballroom.But he was, plain and simple,a promoter when the owners of

the team that replaced the NHL’sbygone Winnipeg Jets asked himto help build and run a privately

owned arena which would housethe new team, the AHL’s ManitobaMoose.

Oh, and while he was at it,would he run the existingWinnipeg Arena? Donnelly was

up to the challenge, but first he

had to convince the investorshe was the right man for the job.

“I said, ‘Fifteen years ago, thebest promoters were starting tothink as venues. Promoters started

to buy and operate sheds, andwere operating theatres and clubs.Today, the best facilities are think-

ing and acting like promoters.’“So, if they were worried

about my skill sets fitting whatthey needed, they needed to

consider that statement and weighwhether that made sense to them.It obviously did.”

He operated the Winnipeg Arenauntil November 15th, when the15,000-capacity MTS Centre de-

buted. At Mid-Year 2005, the facilityranked 23 on Pollstar’s Top 100Arenas chart, selling nearly 112,000

tickets. Along with hosting the JunoAwards, the arena has brought inFoo Fighters, Def Leppard, Hilary

Duff, and Cher, among others. Onthe books are Billy Idol, BackstreetBoys, Pearl Jam, Robert Plant,

System Of A Down, Gwen Stefani,Audioslave, Paul Anka, GeorgeJones, Celtic Tiger, Nine Inch Nails,

Andre Rieu, and Judas Priest.

When you were first hired, how

did your promotion experience

apply at the Winnipeg Arena?

A It was a challenging environ-

ment because the employees saw

the writing on the wall. Everyone

knew a new, privately owned

arena was likely going to be

built and I was going to be part

of that, so my arrival heralded the

beginning of the end for most

of these people, and also for the

patrons coming through.

Everyone had their own specific

complaints: The arena was too

old, the sound was too bad, the

washrooms were decrepit or not

functioning, and the seats and

concessions were not a winning

experience.

It was tough to come in with all

the best intentions but the market

had gone stagnant. I had to get

that market excited again about

seeing concerts immediately in

the old building, and re-excite the

staff into improving the patron

experience, the artist’s experience

and promoter’s experience. And

I had very few resources to rein-

vest into improving the space.

The upside is, I managed to

do both: I managed to get staff

excited about the challenge

because I presented them with,

“If you do a good job here, if you

see the vision that I see, you’ll

come with me to the new build-

ing.” I was able to weed out some

of the staff that weren’t part of

that picture and took some skilled

people with me who were excited

by all a new facility holds – new

opportunity, new challenges, new

tools and toys, new score clocks

and ice plants, new audio equip-

ment and a new loading dock.

And I worked the promoter

side, increasing traffic and getting

people excited, getting shows

happening and I was moderately

successful, given that the town was

lackadaisical about seeing shows.

When we opened the MTS Cen-

ter on November 15th, we were

able to excite the marketplace and

we’ve had a tremendous run since.

We’ve been extremely busy. People

enjoy the experience, padded

seats, great acoustics, great facili-

ties including washrooms and

concessions. Considering we’re

a $125 million Canadian building,

we got really great value out of the

money. I think the general impres-

sion of people in the arena indus-

try who’ve visited the building is

that it’s a more expensive building.

I think we got really great value

from the suppliers and the con-

tractors for the price we paid.

When you were on the

planning committee in 2001,

did your background help?

A Absolutely. I didn’t pretend to

know a lot about what the hockey

teams needed but I had a lengthy

list called my “rock ‘n’ roll list.”

It had dressing rooms,

it had everything from quantity,

furnishings and fixtures to the

layout, loading dock, loading

access, rigging grid, drapery

system and power – whether it

was the dispersal in the backstage

area, how much or where.

I have a moveable drape

on a track that can either frame

a full arena setup in a full concert

mode, it can dress the back or

it can slide 130 feet forward and

create a nice 3,200-seat concert

hall environment.

The old mindset used to

be that a promoter’s work wasn’t

necessarily the facility’s work. But

clearly the promoter’s success or

lack thereof directly impacts the

facility’s success. If the promoters

aren’t attracting people, you’re not

going to make any concession

sales or rent any parking spots or

sell any tickets, so we need to as-

sist them. Therefore, having mar-

Kevin DonnellyMTS Centre

About 15 years ago, Winnipeg, Manitoba, was

a rock ‘n’ roll town. Bon Jovi, AC/DC and

Judas Priest would make regular, successful visits

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38 2005/2006 Edition

keting people on staff not only

selling hockey tickets but circus

tickets, ice show tickets and

concert tickets needs to be essen-

tial. In today’s day of national

promoters –AEG, House of Blues

and Clear Channel – the venue

becomes the local promoter.

The network of promotion

companies in every market has

been replaced by the building,

which has to arrange for runners,

niceties in the dressing rooms

and putting posters around town.

When I was a promoter, I would

never think of calling a venue and

saying, “Hey, can you put up my

posters around town?” They’d

laugh at the request. They’d put it

up in the building but not at a mall

across town. But now, we do that.

We arrange for that marketing as-

sistance, we arrange for that artist

service whether it’s chiropractors,

limousine drivers or dentists. It’s

an easy day when

promoters come

to Winnipeg. We

can take care of

details big and

small for them.

If a promoter

in Los Angeles

calls [Fresno,

Calif.’s Save Mart

Center], it’s a lot

easier for the guy

in L.A. to under-

stand the market;

he may not know

the Winnipeg market.

It’s our responsibility that either

that promoter or the marketing

rep in the promoter’s office

knows the market. We help them

make the introductions, or we’re

there to provide the service.

Now, I’m not saying we pay

for the ads, but we will help them

decide on the right stations to

pick, the right campaign to go

with, the right schedule of ad runs

– all that stuff – because we know

whether Thursday, Friday, or

Saturday is the bigger impact date

for the newspaper’s entertainment

section. They may not know that,

sitting in Vancouver, Toronto,

New York or Los Angeles.

And physically putting

posters up?

A Yes. We’ll get a team of kids

to go out and guerilla-market

other events or hit construction

sites and paper up the boarding

or whatever the case is.

It depends on the event of

course. I just walked to Starbucks

and I noticed the construction

boarding across the street was

plastered with Nine Inch Nails

posters, which made me smile.

Our poster guy is doing his job.

But whether it’s an ice skating

show or something else, we

know where to hit. NIN is a

great product to put on urban

construction boarding down-

town where a lot of urban kids

are waiting for buses, but if it

were an ice show, you want to be

more suburban – in restaurants,

shops, whatever the case is.

I’ve got an exterior video

board where

we’re pumping

our message,

promoting all

our shows, right

there on the

main strip of the

town. We try to

do whatever we

think we can,

with every tool

we can think of.

What if NIN

requests a separate entrance

for its online ticket buyers?

A That hasn’t come up yet but

my reaction to that request would

be what I try to do with every

request: I say to the staff, “Figure

out how to say yes.”

People are asking for some-

thing because they need it. They

don’t ask because it’s not impor-

tant. Whether it’s on an artistic

level or a financial level or a busi-

ness level, it’s connected to some-

body wanting to make something

happen, so figure out how to

say yes. “Yes, but it’ll cost you,”

“Yes but it takes time,” “Yes, but

–” whatever. Always lead with a

“yes.”

Every show is different so you

can’t assume that because one act

didn’t do it that the next act feels

the same way.

I’ve got a great event manager

in Alayne Nott and technical pro-

ducer Lloyd Fox who, with me,

figures out how to say yes. We

had a radio show in the building

on one day and the very next day

we had a sold-out Rod Stewart

concert. A week before the shows

played, Rod Stewart’s people

said they needed to do some

pre-production and asked if they

could do it the day prior.

We said yes. We rigged two

shows at the same time, built

extra depth in the radio show

stage and had Rod’s lighting and

stage being constructed behind

the current show.

I credit the booking team for

being able to figure out how to

make that work, figuring out how

to split the manpower we’ve got,

how to give both sides the riggers

and skilled labor they needed and

keep both productions happy.

It’s always a struggle, but we got

through it and here we are today.

You get requests every single

day, whether it’s meet-and-greets

or fan clubs or, as you mentioned,

special entrances for a thousand

people so there’s no scalpers.

There’s one of those every day.

“Can we come in early?” “Can the

truck stay late?” “We didn’t order

it but can you feed our drivers at

six o’clock in the morning?”

There’s one every day.

What is your closest

competitive market?

A It’s probably the Fargodome

(Fargo, N.D.) or the Alerus

Center (Grand Forks, N.D.),

just south of the border.

In reality, as a region, as an

arena in western Canada, we

probably compete and lose shows

as a group to the run that’s just

south of us. People, instead of

going to Calgary, Edmonton,

Saskatoon, or Winnipeg, they’ll

go to Spokane Boise, Ames, some-

place in Montana, then south to

Salt Lake City and Denver. Instead

of having an individual competi-

tor, it’s more the region.

As a region, as a group of

arenas, we get routed. Then, the

whole leg of the tour goes away

and gets replaced by five similar-

sized markets just south of the

U.S./Canadian border. I don’t

really have a close enemy, but we

definitely have competition where

us as a region, a grouping of five

or six arenas, don’t always get all

the shows we’re looking for.

Again, I think that 99 percent

of the shows could play the

HILARY DUFF SWINGS THROUGH the MTS Center in January. L-R: the venue’s AlayneNott and Jim Ludlow, Duff, Kevin Donnelly and House of Blues Concerts Canada’sDave Fortune.

Ken

t Hart

In today’s day

of national

promoters –AEG,

House of Blues

and Clear Channel

– the venue becomes

the local promoter.

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Alerus Center and MTS Centre,

without question. There’s a

border there, there’s a mindset

between the communities. One

community looks to their rink,

and north of the border, my com-

munity looks to mine. Whether

you’re Eagles or Ozzy or Cher,

you can play both even though

we’re only 140 miles apart.

I don’t really think of them

as a competitor on a market-to-

market basis. More often we’re

fighting to consider five markets

in western Canada as opposed to

five markets in the western U.S.

Regarding the curtain,

are you part of a network?

A There are discussions here in

Canada of creating a similar ini-

tiative to the ArenaNetwork, and

not so much to take advantage of

our cut-down capacity but shar-

ing information, creating new

kinds of shows. We have a very

active House of Blues Concerts

office in Vancouver that is doing

a remarkable job servicing us.

This year we’re quite a busy

region. I think the discussions

we’ve had about creating a

network or a coalition are really

to see what other kind of shows

we can get, whether it’s motor

sports or alternative sporting like

gymnastics. It’s not really to say

“I’ve got a theatre, let’s go after

a Barry Manilow date or tour.”

The network discussions we’re

having are more general, not

specific to a genre of music or

a facility setup configuration.

I’ve done under 5,000-seat

setups. I had a four-show run

with David Copperfield that was

very successful; I’ve had George

Thorogood and Canadian act

Blue Rodeo. Coming up, I’ve

got Paul Anka and Jann Arden.

The 5,000-seat configuration has

been very successful in the six

months we’ve been open. Again,

that’s a new piece of inventory

I’ll continue to push aggressively.

You’ve had a very successful

launch.

A Absolutely. And it’s been a

combination of self-promoted

events and shows Clear Channel,

House of Blues or whomever

have brought through.

The opening ceremony festivity

we built ourselves. We put five

artists on stage that were all born

and bred in Manitoba – Randy

Bachman and Burton Cummins

(The Guess Who), Chantal

Kreviazuk (a recording artist

who’s lately been a successful

songwriter for Avril Lavigne),

Canadian icon Tom Cochran and

a country act called Doc Walker.

Each of them was onstage with

an orchestra. We sold out 12,000

seats, grossed just under $700,000

and had a nice little launch.

Then, the Tragically Hip

sold out 11,000 seats and I had

the four-show run with David

Copperfield where more than

14,000 paid. My opening week

was pretty solid.

In April, we had the Juno

Awards. It was a great coup to

have it in our first year. Every

Canadian manager, every Cana-

dian agent, every Canadian star

came into the building and we

were even fortunate enough to

get attention from our American

friends. Darin Murphy from

CAA Nashville came up because

he was here with Keith Urban,

who presented an award

(during his tour). Some of our

Canadian managers are Ameri-

can heavyweights as well – like

Sam Feldman with Norah Jones

and Ray Danniels with Rush.

We were able to walk these

guys through the building and

explain some of the investments

we made in acoustics and the

infrastructure that the audience

doesn’t necessarily see. We spent

hundreds of thousands of dollars

in acoustic baffling. They may

never have heard about it, seen

it or understood why the show in

Winnipeg was so great and why

everybody loved it. So, it gave me

a chance to point out the tile, the

ceiling, the material on the wall,

the fact that there’s no glass in

our concert setup, and so on and

so forth. It helps make the deci-

sion why an act plays in a theatre

setup rather than two nights in

a theatre across the street.

It helped reestablish Winnipeg

in their tour plans. Thankfully,

whether it’s Canadian acts or

American acts, I’m fortunate

enough to be considered for

virtually every touring property

that’s out there considering

Canada. You couldn’t have said

that a year ago.

What’s the population of

the area?

A The city itself is 700,000 and

the trading area is over a million.

That’s similar to Pollstar’s

home base, Fresno, and the

city’s newest venue, the Save

Mart Center.

A You know what? The architect,

Don Dethlefs, was our architect,

too. So there are some parallels.

Twenty years ago we were

quite an active rock town. AC/DC,

Judas Priest and Bon Jovi would

run through quite regularly. But,

with the evaporation of a local

promoter, everything got based in

Vancouver and we were worrying

about a bunch of markets. The

shows didn’t come as frequently,

and the exchange rate challenged

Canada to compete with compa-

rable markets in America. The

traffic dwindled and the amount

of interest dwindled. Going to

concerts became a really low

priority in the entertainment

experience of this market.

People had to go out of town to

another, newer arena. There was a

belief that if we could get the au-

dience to come back, they’d re-

member how great it was and be

impressed with the fact that you

could go to a big building and

actually hear what the singer’s

singing, hear what he’s saying

between songs, get something

hot to eat and cold to drink.

Any shows surpass your

expectations?

A Surpass our expectations?

Again, I was thrilled with David

Copperfield in my theatre bowl.

And Mötley Crüe’s tour caught a

craze and momentum of its own

that surpassed our expectations,

but I don’t think you can attribute

that to the building. That band

did a really great job of setting up

that tour and reestablishing them-

selves as a top-tier draw here and

everywhere else. We had 11,500

paid, and we didn’t see that com-

ing, but getting 14,000 paid for

Copperfield was great vindication

that there is a market for high-

caliber shows, a demographic

that’s beyond what you typically

think for a semi-arena setting.

ALAYNE AND KEVIN hand out Manitoba Moose jerseys to the Black Eyed Peas July15th with the help of HoB Concerts Canada’s GM of Western Canadian Operations,Paul Haagenson (R).

Ken

t Hart

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The Foo Fighters were here Au-

gust 10th and we were happily the

highest-selling market in western

Canada, so we’ve been surprised

and proud of our achievements

on a number of occasions.

We had a great night with

Black Eyed Peas, sold out Hilary

Duff, sold out Rod Stewart, sold

out Green Day, and did great with

the Foos. We’ve got a 15,000-seat

night coming up with Pearl Jam,

sold out in the round. We’ve got

the Toronto Raptors coming for

an exhibition game, the event is

75 days away, and I’m 40 percent

sold. It’s going to sell out.

Your website includes reviews

for shows.

A Yes, and we get a lot of kudos

from the hockey side. We’re up to

date by intermission for the stats

to that intermission. We know no-

body in the AHL makes that kind

of commitment to their informa-

tion sites and their Web sites.

On the concert side, I’ve got

a really excited young staff and

they come to me with these sug-

gestions. The website is not just

yellow pages anymore. It becomes

a real selling tool that people use

as a resource. We’re still having a

lot of fun and wondering where

we can go with the Web site.

Any favorite shows so far?

A Well, I’m a huge Tragically

Hip fan. In my past promoter

life I did a lot of dates with them,

traveling across the land,

representing House of Blues and

Universal Concerts as they did

record-breaking national tours.

But, you know, Green Day

was a good one. Having the Juno

Awards was a real achievement

– not that I had anything to do

with the actual show or product

onstage, but landing it here in the

marketplace, seeing the impact

it had on tourism and hotels

and the amount of money that

was plowed into the city. It was a

pretty nice moment for me when

I got to sit back and go, “Yes, this

is an idea I had over lunch and

now it’s happening.”

What’s your radius?

A Predominantly, the patrons

are only Winnipeg. We don’t rec-

ommend promoters spend a lot

of money in the rural areas. We

think because of where we are,

it has to work with the 700,000

people in town or it ain’t gonna

work. From a routing perspec-

tive, of the 30 shows I’m getting

here, the majority are traveling

east to west across Canada and

electing to stop in Winnipeg.

If I had an area I wanted to

target, it’s reminding agents that

you can route Minneapolis into

one of the new facilities in Fargo

or Grand Forks up to Winnipeg,

and that it’s a 200 mile drive from

Minneapolis to Fargo or Grand

Forks, and it’s a 200 mile drive

from one of those centers to here.

There’s another natural corridor

there for them.

Was building

the arena

in historic

downtown

controversial?

A I think the

vast majority

totally got the

notion that

this was a great

location for this

kind of facility.

There was a

small minority

that decided they liked the

90-year-old empty Eatons Depart-

ment Store more. We actually had

to fight this vocal minority right

to the Supreme Court of Canada.

It altered our schedule by 12

months but I tell people that it

was a blessing. We never canceled

a meeting, never canceled a

session with the architect or

any of the designers, and we put

those 12 months into good work,

redrilling into every design

element of the building including

the exterior facade, the complete

dressing room layout, the loading

dock concept and got right down

to the basics and built a much

better building. It cost us some

money and some time, but I think

we’re better off. We learned more

about building an arena, learned

more about managing a construc-

tion project and delivered a better

building for the city, the users,

and everybody’s better off.

Because we’re in an urban

center, we have a bunch of

overhead walkways that

connect to neighboring malls

and hotels. We see about 100,000

people a month walk through

the building without a ticket.

And they can walk through

during event times and not

interfere with a ticketed

restricted area. Because of that,

we’ve developed areas that are,

at certain times of the day,

open to the public without a

ticket and, during event times,

they morph and become a

ticketed-only area.

And we figured out a way

to open up concession stands

to street traffic from 7 a.m. to

7 p.m. six days a week and do

so quite successfully.

Every building in every city

is a unique story. What can you

envision that improves yours?

What offers you a new revenue

stream or new marketing

opportunity or makes your

building more ingrained in

the community?s