Comments by NBHAdd
Page 1 of 1
Posted on December 29 at 6:19 p.m. (Suggest removal)
This is a comment made after the arena's first year in use..
by Greg White
"I am very pleased with the number, and variety, of events scheduled at the Covington
Center thus far," said Greg White, Covington County Commission chairman. "The support of folks in the county has been great, and it has been gratifying to hear those from outside the immediate area comment about their positive impression of the Center, and in fact of the entire County, as they arrive."
Not only has the Center brought entertainment opportunities to the county, it also has an economic impact on the area; something White said will continue to grow.
"A recent news report about a bass tournament in Prattville, which attracted 350 participants, suggested that the event would have a $1.5 million economic impact on the community," White said.
"If this is true, then we will have several $1.5 million events in Covington County each year as a result of the horse shows, ropings, team pennings, etc. that use the Covington Center.
In fact, we have already had several of those during the first year of operation."
This was in a News article on the arena, 1.5 million impact on the county for events..
Can we afford to run these events off..
This is a lot of taxes from people who live outside covington county that shop here while in town. My point is we as users and patriots of the arena know that it is run as a joke...Has been since it began..but the impact on this county can be great without the county losing control..
We need to come up with positive solutions not bicker back and forth about this.
I dont want to see it leased..I believe that it can and will be run for a profit or at least break even. I still want to know about the expenses above revenue..
Posted on December 29 at 4:46 p.m. (Suggest removal)
lookeyhere
they are all county owned buildings that is how they compare. We have expenses at all of them.
Posted on December 29 at 10:07 a.m. (Suggest removal)
There are more ways than leasing it to make the arena profit and we need to exhaust those prior to leasing it..
Seems like Mr. Ellis and Mrs. Petty are on a fast track to get this out of county hands and to some individual, wonder why, do they have other motives for this?
Instead of trying to make it work, they want to cut and run, give it to someone else. We the citizens are still going to have to pay for it with our taxes, and then we will still have to pay someone else for the use of the building, when before we were at least paying the county, so we are getting screwed over again. Yes there are operating expenses to take into consideration, but the county was fully aware of that when they built this building. So do we turn over the operation of the courthouse or jail to a private company due to the expenses, how about the administration building surely there are way to cut expenses there or shoud we look at getting a private individual to take over running all the county buildings..
I think that we are rushing into something that this county will regret later, haste makes waste, that is why we are in the position we are now with this building, the county rushed the design process, hired the wrong people and now are rushing again to get rid of the great white elephant.. Maybe we need to go back and look at the beginning and see where all the waste started and who is to blame for that. The county commission needs to think it through before doing anything that it will regret.
We have had this arena expense for years and taking time to correct it instead of throwing up our hands and saying "I can't make this work, you do it", we need to trying and see where this can be made better..
Posted on December 29 at 9:46 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I dont want to get into a yelling contest with any one, sexual preferences have nothing to with the arena, BamaDude has made valid points about the arena, no they are not closing it yet only talking about leasing it.. but if it goes into private hands the citizens of Covington County that are paying for the arena will again loose all access to it..why should we pay for it if we can't use it. The arena is not just for horse people but everyone in the county.
There are other events that can be held at that arena that can benefit the people of Covington County they are not being pursued.
The arena operation needs an overhaul.
I keep hearing about all the expenses that we are paying for but no one has shown us a list of those expenses and how they can be cut other than leasing the arena.
Yes the BRSC members worked hard to make their old arena and I don't remember the county having anything to do. I don't know of any other sport in this county that had to raise and build their own facility, we were on city property I believe and not county. When the county started the new facility the arena was moved to the new location so that they were combined, and the county took control. (bad move)
As far as renting the arena I have heard one person telling people from out of town that he was going the rent to arena before it came out in the paper..Wonder how he got that inside information, maybe he had close personal connection with someone in the county administration.
WE as citizens of this county need to know just where the expenses are and how to manage them on a better basis, if that includes jobs being down-sized or personnel being replaced, or the expenses of other county facilities being looked over, then so be it, but giving control of a county facility to a person that seems to have had this agenda for a while doesnt make a lot of sense until all of the rocks have been over turned. And seeing what mice run..
Mr. Ellis should have run for Commission Chairman as it seems that he is the one ramrodding the show.
Posted on December 22 at 11:34 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Stephanie I agree with you we can't continue to fund a dead horse..(they usually don't require much after they die) but keeping a sick one alive and making it healthy takes time and investment and belief in it. That is what I have in this county, belief and investment..
That arena that everyone like to say is a dead horse brings in revenue to this county as well as the city of Andalusia. Those 77 days that the article states the arena was used made an impact on this county, we need to see the ecomonic impact that the county experiences when there are events at the arena. We need to try and bring in more events, no matter how small. What other venue does the county offer that brings in year round revenue. Manage by the right people and in the right manner that arena can pay for itself as well as boost the county and not be just a drain in it.
That is what I am hoping can come out of this a new way of management and the county reaping the benefits instead of an individual person.
Posted on December 22 at 11:18 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I agree that this arena has been mis managed since the inception from the design plans to the contractors to the operation everything has been mis-managed. I think that if the county looked deeper into the finances of this arena you will find more than one person at fault. Brad Carter has been nothing but a fine commissioner as far as I am aware, I would support him again fully. The new commission needs to check into the records of the arena and the county and you can find part of the problem.
Page 1 of 1
Posted on January 15 at 4:23 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The arena hs been open for eight year and it has always had a loss. Looks like business as usual willnot cut it anymore. We need to rethink the way the arena is run and cut the largest expenses.. not just at the arena but in every aspect of the county .. times are hard and people get angry when they are stressed...Money is a big stress to us all.
I hate to see employees fired but when they arent performing the job they were hired to do then they need to be reassigned to a job they can do or let go.
As a county we can not continue to handle the excess baggage
On Supporters plea for arena