Peoria Civic Misses Mark

Peoria Civic Center has reported an annual loss nine times greater than projected, and has dropped its outside food service vendor, CenterPlate, and laid off workers in an attempt to close the gap.

Photo: facebook.com/PeoriaCivicCenter

The 12,000-capacity, SMG-managed Illinois arena lost $875,000 during the fiscal year ended last month after projecting a $96,000 loss.

Attendance was down by 23 percent compared with the same period last year. Annual attendance for Civic Center events in recent years has averaged about 640,000, GM Jim Wetherington told Peoria’s Journal Star.

For the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, it was about 520,000, he told the paper. There were many factors for the decline, he said, including a harsh winter and fewer games played by a resident minor league hockey team.

“Last winter killed us,” Wetherington told the Journal Star. “Snow hit us on hockey games. We sold 3,400 tickets to the Harlem Globetrotters last January but only 1,800 people showed up. Usually we get 1,000 walk-ups for the Globetrotters.”

The Journal Star reports the center’s board voted Aug. 28 to approve a new three-year contract with SMG, which will now be brought in house to be managed by SMG. Wetherington also told the paper the center’s reserves have declined from about $2 million to $1.3 million.