The Albany Civic Center has lost much of the luster of its early glory days.

From the WALB comment section:

"Jeff" writes:

"Civic Center Lineup in 2009? Reads more like speculation and early excuse trials for when the Peanut Commission, Lipizzaner Stallions and WWE only pull a fraction of the ticket sales budgeted for. Mr. Mazzola this is not the Okeechobee County Agri-Civic Center you're booking for. This whale of a Civic Center sits within 100 miles of several universities and colleges, but I would imagine no $$ are spent to advertise within those markets? Then again who in Americus, Columbus, Tallahassee, Valdosta, Dothan, Tifton and Albany for that matter, really care about the white dancing horses... especially enough to pay money to see them. I could see if I were on vacation in say Kentucky and the pretty white horses were dancing on the side of the road. I would give a few bucks to sit and watch but I'm not going to go out of my way for something like that and would imagine you pull no more than 100-200 people depending on the cost. That event should be reserved for fairs and rodeos. So with Mr. Mazolla the Civic Center has a Facilities Director, but do they have a Talent Buyer or even better a Marketing person? No offense Mr. Mazzola but I'm not sure coming from the Okeechobee Agri-Civic Center makes you the best candidate for knowing what those outside the farming community would like to spend their limited entertainment $$ on. What many do not understand is that the the music industry has changed and acts now make their money from touring. With the prime SWG location and mid-size Civic Center i don't understand why one would not be able to fill 10k seats in a month, each month. Mr. Mazolla step outside your agri background there is a lot more going on in the world and South GA.
Good luck and I hope there is an event in 2009 that brings me back home."

see all comments at: http://www.walb.com/global/story.asp... #

The WALB story sure got some feedback about this. Bottom line here is laziness and lack of leadership initiative. There is a 10,000 seat facility yet no one is committed to making sure that we have a 10,000-person event every week. The comments over there demonstrate that Albany expects Mazzola to roll up those sleeves, stop making excuses and either get to work or resign. He's had two years and the only acts coming are those established before he arrived.

Several years ago I attended an event at the Albany Civic Center with my family. We were surprized at how dirty the facility was and the state of disrepair the facility was in.

The Civic Center was built in the wrong part of town, and so was the ballpark. And it should have been about half the size. I know our city leaders can't/won't admit it, but THE MONEY IS IN THE NORTH/NORTHWEST PART OF TOWN. The people with money to spend are not going to take their families to either one of these facilities after dark!

cool

What about the celebrity quail hunt? Doesn't that bring in alot of money? Isn't it held here each year?

Mallory64 wrote:

The Civic Center was built in the wrong part of town, and so was the ballpark. And it should have been about half the size. I know our city leaders can't/won't admit it, but THE MONEY IS IN THE NORTH/NORTHWEST PART OF TOWN. The people with money to spend are not going to take their families to either one of these facilities after dark!

Normally I agree with you as you are one of the most sensible posters hereon.

Am going to disagree about one thing though. The Civic Center needs more seats, not fewer, in order to get back in the booking circuit for top tours.- The Civic Center was built to meet the minimum Ringling Brothers standards - at full configuration, it seats about 10,000. To afford top acts at $80,000 to $100,000, it needs a 25,000 to 30,000 seat capacity. With only 10,000 seats and no concession leverage, the Civic Center doesn't make the "list" and even if it did, it has nothing to offer potential promoters.

Originally the design called for a fully functional kitchen. It doesn't have one - but it needs one to attract the big tours.

The Civic Center, not the Wildcats, must retain full control over its food, its advertising/signage, and its rightful share of ticket revenues for all events.

The way things are now the City has given away to the Wildcats all of its food revenues, its advertising and signage revenues and more than its rightful share of ticket revenues.

You couldn't fill a thimble with what Al Lott, Wes Smith and John Mazzola - all combined - understand about this business and how to make a Civic Center viable.

Two cents may only be worth one penny nowadays, but it seems to me that if the city is determined to try and rejuvenate the downtown area, wishes to initiate multi-million-dollar construction projects, and cannot get good acts because of seating limitations, why not invest in a re-build, re-model or even re-location of the civic center?

Of course, to fill 30,000 seats means removing Lott and Smith from any planning and operational interference and bringing in a professional to replace or mentor Mr. Mazzola.

AskTheWiseOldMan wrote:

<quoted text>
Normally I agree with you as you are one of the most sensible posters hereon.
Am going to disagree about one thing though. The Civic Center needs more seats, not fewer, in order to get back in the booking circuit for top tours.- The Civic Center was built to meet the minimum Ringling Brothers standards - at full configuration, it seats about 10,000. To afford top acts at $80,000 to $100,000, it needs a 25,000 to 30,000 seat capacity. With only 10,000 seats and no concession leverage, the Civic Center doesn't make the "list" and even if it did, it has nothing to offer potential promoters.
Originally the design called for a fully functional kitchen. It doesn't have one - but it needs one to attract the big tours.
The Civic Center, not the Wildcats, must retain full control over its food, its advertising/signage, and its rightful share of ticket revenues for all events.
The way things are now the City has given away to the Wildcats all of its food revenues, its advertising and signage revenues and more than its rightful share of ticket revenues.
You couldn't fill a thimble with what Al Lott, Wes Smith and John Mazzola - all combined - understand about this business and how to make a Civic Center viable.

Now Tom Holloway,,,er, ah... I mean Wise Old Man, why don't you apply to take it over lock stock and barrel. From your comments, I'm sure you can make it work at a high, profitable level, right? Put up a little dough and I bet the city will jump at it. Go for it, Wise Old Tom. SHOW US HOW, TOM HOLLOWAY.