Demolition nears completion; recycling efforts hailed.

 The Kentucky International Convention Center expansion project is seeking silver LEED green building certification, the second-highest ranking from the U.S. Green Building Council. To work towards that goal, more than 77 percent of the concrete, metal and other materials from the demolition of the western half of the building will be recycled.

The concrete, 8,800 tons, will be used as the foundation in other construction projects. Some of the bricks will be re-used as part of the renovation, with nearly 65 percent being recycled in some capacity. The steel and other metals will be melted to create new construction materials.

The original structure, built in 1974, is being demolished to the ground level. The convention center has been closed since August and will reopen in summer 2018. The expansion will add a minimum of 200,000 square feet of exhibit space and a 40,000 square foot ballroom without expanding the outer walls of the building. This expansion will potentially bring up to 25 percent more business to the convention center. The renovation of the convention center is projected to cost $207 million.

IAVM would like to welcome Peter Sagal as the Performing Arts Managers Conference’s featured speaker:

As the host of National Public Radio’s Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me!, Peter Sagal is heard by more than 3 million people every week, broadcast on 450 public radio stations nationwide and via a popular podcast. The show received the prestigious Peabody Award in 2008, the same year it celebrated its 10th Anniversary. The hour long show has captivated news junkies across the country with its lighthearted approach to current events, and has become the biggest and most beloved weekend radio phenomenon since A Prairie Home Companion.

Each week, Sagal leads NPR veteran newscaster Carl Kasell and esteemed guest panelists like humorist Roy Blount Jr., comedians Paula Poundstone and Paul Provenza, media personality Mo Rocca and author P.J. O’Rourke through a satirical review of the week’s news in the form of a quiz. It’s a revival of You Bet Your Life crossbred with the irreverence of The Daily Show.

Sagal is the host of PBS’ new series, Constitution USA with Peter Sagal. The show follows him as he travels across country—on a Harley Davison Road King—to find out where the Constitution lives, how it works, its history and its vital relevance today.

Sagal has traveled all around the country with Wait Wait…, playing to sold-out theaters from Seattle to Miami. At the podium, Sagal takes audiences behind the scenes of Wait Wait… to explore the shows beginnings, some of its more memorable moments and a look at today’s news stories. An adept moderator, Sagal is the perfect emcee, able to apply his quick wit to esoteric company stories, weaving jokes for an uproarious and unforgettable evening. Whether providing insightful, colorful commentary on current events or a behind-the-scenes peek at the funniest show on radio, Sagal never fails to inform and entertain.

After hosting Wait Wait… for almost 20 years, Sagal knows a thing or two about telling a joke. In a separate program, Sagal looks back at his career to educate audiences on “the art of joke telling.” With a decades-long career in making people laugh, Sagal shares what he’s learned about jokes, giving audiences a rare behind-the-scenes look at how he writes and delivers them, and explores why humor is the best way to get a reaction from a crowd.

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The wildfire destruction that swept across eastern Tennessee near the Great Smokey Mountains National Park has left 13 dead with the number of damaged buildings in Gatlinburg standing near 1,000.

As the fires started early last week and had been burning for several days mostly in the heights of the popular national park, firefighters had difficulty reaching the remote inferno. Soon thereafter, the winds picked up and as of last Monday afternoon, the fires were spreading at a furious pace.

Gatlinburg has borne the brunt of the devastation, but public assembly venues to the north in Pigeon Forge and Sevierville have also been impacted. Pigeon Forge is located five miles north of the national park and is a huge tourist attraction featuring Dollywood and a vibrant music scene. The Sevierville Convention Center north of Pigeon Forge remained open while many in the public assembly venue industry checked on both sites.

“I am happy to report that our facility avoided any damage and none of our staff or their immediate families suffered any losses,” Phil Campbell, facility manager at the LeConte Center at Pigeon Forge, told IAVM. “The same cannot be said for our overall community as you may have seen from national press coverage. The current number of fatalities stands at 13 with numerous homes and businesses completely destroyed in the area, particularly in the neighboring city of Gatlinburg. On Monday evening, some previously contained wildfires were quickly spread by 80 mph winds and raged uncontrolled until much needed rains finally moved in.

“We opened the LeConte Center at Pigeon Forge as an emergency shelter at 7 pm Monday evening and quickly began to see displaced residents and visitors arrive. The American Red Cross joined us around 10 pm to provide assistance in sheltering around 400 people whose homes, cabins, condos, and hotel rooms were in danger and mandatory evacuations were issued. By Tuesday night our number of displaced evacuees had been reduced to 44 as people were allowed to return to certain areas, find other lodging, or stay with friends and family. We remained an active shelter until 5 pm Wednesday afternoon when the decision was made to consolidate those remaining with us into another shelter nearby.

“It has been an experience neither I nor our staff will never forget. The outpouring of support from food, water, personal hygiene items, blankets, and clothes was overwhelming. We were blessed with an opportunity to provide safe shelter, medical assistance, and care to many distressed and hurting people. We have now transitioned back into normal operations and actually welcomed in the next event which started on Friday. Pigeon Forge lost no businesses and we are trying to ensure that the everyone knows we are open for business. One of the best ways they help is to visit and support our local economy that employs many of the very people affected by this tragedy.”

Farther north, the Sevierville Convention Center remained a “business as usual” venue, according to venue General Manager Martha Norris.

“The Sevierville Convention Center is doing well as we have not been affected directly by the fires,” Norris said. “We were not a shelter as we are located about 15 miles from the Gatlinburg area and there are large venues closer in than us. It is amazing that during this disaster we have been so blessed with the outpouring of prayers, love and donations from our surrounding states. I must say what a great area to call home.

“The Sevierville Convention Center as well as the LeConte Convention Center are still going strong as will our neighbor the Gatlinburg Convention Center soon.”

When Wenger Corporation acquired the assets of 45-year-old SECOA, it did so with an eye toward the future.

Chris Simpson

“What we can benefit from this acquisition of the assets is that we have an opportunity to grow and pick up sales and their book of business, as it were,” said Chris Simpson, president and CEO of Wenger. “We have an opportunity to really leverage better resources. That’s an important point to this purchase. We’re adding some of their key team members and their related experience. We are able to take on a couple of their products that fit into our portfolio. That’s really a key element to what we’re doing.”

Simpson came on board at Owatonna, Minnesota-based Wenger five years ago, and has led a dynamic growth spurt for a company that provides innovative, high-quality products and solutions for music and theatre education, performing arts and athletic equipment storage.

“The genesis of even thinking about this goes back to what our base strategy is and what our vision is,” Simpson said. “It comes back to Wenger Corporation’s overall vision, which is to be a leading provider of products and services for the performing arts and education businesses on a global basis. That’s a big, broad vision. We understand what we have to do to go out there and do that. One of the things you have to do is grow. We clearly have a very aggressive growth strategy for the performing arts business.”

Wenger, which started in 1946, acquired J.R. Clancy five years ago, which put the company in the rigging business.

“Our product portfolio has expanded significantly with where we were pre-J.R. Clancy,” Simpson said. “We have audio, seating, acoustical, rigging and I could go on and on. The point is we have a broad and deep range of product offerings in the industry.”

Simpson said that while he has looked at what might make sense from an acquisition opportunity, the SECOA deal happened when he was approached by that company’s owners.

“I thought the similarities of business models was strikingly similar,” he said. “Therefore, we looked at how buying the assets of the company might make sense. That is one of the things to be clear about in that we didn’t buy SECOA, per se, but bought the assets of SECOA. That said, SECOA as a separate entity really will no longer exist. We have the rights to the SECOA brand and in fact we plan on using that on some of the select products that transferred over, but the business will be rolling up into the Wenger/J.R. Clancy business model.”

Simpson believes that the combination of retaining some talented individuals along with the business model he has purchased means only a positive future to build upon.

“There are some talented individuals we have coming on board who have long-term experience,” he said. “They are actually going to help us accelerate some of the abilities to really project manage and be a total integrator of more solutions for the performing arts space. SECOA has a business model that they’ve been running forever that we have had just over the last couple of years. That will help us jump-start even faster. But we just feel that the assets that we are acquiring as part of this deal clearly fits very well with what we’re doing.”

Mayor Marilyn Strickland and the Tacoma City Council recently approved US$21.3m to renovate the iconic Tacoma Dome – Washington State’s largest indoor venue – in the 2017-18 Biennial Budget presented by City Manager, T.C. Broadnax.

The City-owned facility will be revitalized with new seating, exterior beautification, renovated restrooms, modernized backstage areas and upgraded loading docks and security systems.

City of Tacoma Director of Tacoma Venues & Events, Kim Bedier, said:

The Tacoma Dome is an icon, a ‘must-play’ venue hosting world-class events for more than 33 years. We are looking forward to this exciting transformation and setting the stage for the Dome’s continuing legacy as the premier arena for live entertainment in this region.

Mayor Strickland said:

Investing in the infrastructure and long-term future of the Tacoma Dome is vital to the continued growth of arts and tourism in the region. The sustained economic vitality of the Dome will continue to advance Tacoma’s reputation as a destination. 

City Manager, T.C. Broadnax, added:

The City of Tacoma is committed to excellence and high standards in service. The revitalization of this legendary venue will not only impact the skyline but also boost community pride.

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