New management for Heritage Park

By John Boyanoski  

DECEMBER 22, 2009 3:35 p.m. (0)

The board that runs the Bi-Lo Center has agreed to take over management of shows for its major competition in the Upstate market.

The newly formed Greenville Arena District Public Facilities Management Corp. has signed a minimum $250,000 deal over the next five years to handle the entertainment aspects of Simpsonville’s Heritage Park Amphitheater, said Bruce Cannon, the group’s president.

The park will remain in city control for all other events such as Freedom Weekend Aloft, movie nights and a Fourth of July symphony concert, according to the agreement.

The amphitheater, which has attracted acts such as Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, Styx and REO Speedwagon in the past two years, had been managed by Philadelphia-based SMG, said Russell Hawes, Simpsonville’s administrator.

City officials had no problems with SMG, which was being paid $90,000 a year for entertainment management, but they wanted to look at other options when the contract expired in the fall, Hawes said.

Hawes said a major reason they approached the Greenville Arena District, which is the public board that runs the Bi-Lo Center, was because of competition. They did not think they should be competing against the area’s other major entertainment attraction for shows.

“It makes good business sense for the market,” he said.

Franklin Roach, the director of the University of South Carolina’s department of sports and entertainment management, said several cities including Milwaukee have seen similar merging of management firms under one local group in the last few months.

“This is an evolving industry,” he said.

The theory is it cuts down on overhead costs and increases contract values. A band wanting to play Greenville won’t be able to play one venue off the other to get a better deal, Roach said.

The proposal still needs to pass a second council reading as well as be ratified by the new company, which will be a subsidiary of the Arena District. While the minimum fee is $50,000-a-year, the company will be reimbursed up to $200,000 a year for things such as staffing, Web site management, advertising, ticket sales, booking, food and beverage and security.

Simpsonville will get a share of admissions up to $2.50 per ticket, net profits on all locally produced events and 7 percent of gross food and beverage sales.

The event management will be done by current Bi-Lo Center staff and no new hires are expected. The 16,000-seat Bi-lo Center opened in 1998.

The $3 million Heritage Park Amphitheater has 3,800 fixed seats and 8,000 lawn seats. Bi-Lo Center officials said last summer that the new venue was not hurting its efforts to lure shows.

The deal could also allow Bi-Lo Center management to hold outdoor events in Simpsonville such as the Crawfish Boil last May that featured Snoop Dogg and 3 Doors Down. Last year’s event was a financial success but drew complaints from nearby residents about noise.

Such events were essentially banned by Greenville city and county governments, who have a financial stake in the arena. Cannon said the possibility of staging such an event in Simpsonville was a consideration when they decided to do this.