Some Arena improvement projects on back burner, officials say

A number of capital improvement projects at Corbin’s 5,000-seat exposition center won’t likely happen this fiscal year unless the facility starts to generate more money from events, one city official says.

In July, officials with The Arena at the David L. Williams Southeast Kentucky Ag and Expo Center asked the Corbin City Commission to fund about $52,000 worth of improvement projects. On the list was the purchase of 14 cubic yards of high-grade dirt for events like motocross and rodeos ($12,150), a 100 x 100 foot tarp to cover the dirt and prevent it from eroding away from weather while being stored ($2,976.61), fencing at four specific locations around the arena for safety and to prevent possible theft or damage ($5,682) and four projects to upgrade electrical service inside the facility ($28,924.20). The prices listed are internal quotes obtained by SMG World, the company that manages the Arena.

In September, Corbin City Manager Bill Ed Cannon said he felt funding for the projects looked likely this fiscal year.
But on Tuesday, Arena General Manager Cliff Clinger, an SMG employee, said the dirt has been purchased for upcoming events and that officials are in the process of finding an appropriate tarp, but little headway has been made on the other projects.

"We are just kind of waiting on the other things," Clinger said Tuesday. "Really, they are kind of on the back burner and when we have the funds they will proceed."

Clinger said city leaders have generally agreed the projects are "viable and good," and are waiting for the right time to complete them.

Corbin City Commissioner Dennis Lynch said candidly Tuesday that hesitation by city leaders to fund fencing and electrical projects has roots in unexpected expenses the city incurred to fix unstable ground below the road leading to the arena, an unfulfilled promise of $300,000 in state funds and a scarcity of events at the facility.

He noted that when The Arena officially opened in early March, State Senate President David Williams and Gov. Steve Beshear promised $300,000 to help pay for improvements to the facility. The city has yet to receive that money, though he said he believes it will in the future.

More disconcerting to commissioners, he said, is the fact that The Arena has had no events schedule since the Stimulate This! Tour featuring the rock band Staind rolled through town July 22.

"We feel like we should have had more," Lynch said. "Even if we didn’t have another big top-line star, then we should have had something. I’m not satisfied with having nothing."

Clinger has maintained, since before the facility opened, that indoor venues like The Arena generally go through a dry spell of events in the summer because many acts, musicians in particular, prefer to play seasonal, outdoor venues.

And the dry spell is soon to break. Arena officials have announced a rock-n-roll tribute show, which will take place this Friday, Sesame Street Live, The First Annual Bluegrass Super Pull and the KY Hardwood Classic, all in November, and the World Famous Lipizzaner Stallions in December.

Clinger said Tuesday that a motocross event and rodeo type event are also being planned for January.

That’s good news to Lynch, who said if those events show some profit then the city would take a closer look at improvements to The Arena.

"We just don’t have the money to do it right now … We just got to start paying the bills along as they go," Lynch said. "We’ve got to kind of take it slow. We’ve got events scheduled now and what we are thinking is that maybe we will turn some profit on them and that will allow us to pay the back bills and go ahead and do stuff that we want to do like the electrical stuff and the fencing."

Lynch said commissioners are "all on the same path" in regards to The Arena. He said there was some discussion among city leaders about calling a special meeting to talk over the capital improvement project requests and other issues at the facility, but said that was scuttled. He said he hopes there will be some discussion about The Arena at the commission’s regular meeting this coming Monday.

"We are working really hard to do the right thing and I think we’ve got our arms around the situation."

The true picture of The Arena’s financial situation may become clearer as well this month as the city is due to release its annual audit, which will include the facility. Cannon said the audit, which is usually discussed and accepted in September, has been delayed because SMG has been working with auditors regarding a separate audit of The Arena, which he said would be included with the city’s normal audit. He cautioned that work might not be done until November, however.