Civic Center was once a hot venue

ALBANY — The names read like a who’s who of entertainment royalty … Alabama, Stevie Wonder, Foreigner, Kenny Rogers, B.B. King, Roy Clark, the Commodores, Tina Turner, Run DMC, Bon Jovi, Luther Vandross, New Kids on the Block, Reba McEntire, James Brown, Ozzie Osbourne …

It’s the notations after the list, though, that demand further scrutiny.

— Feb 15-16, 1983: First show, Ringling Bros. and Barnum ‘n Bailey Circus — sold out

— Feb. 19, 1983: Oakridge Boys — near sellout

— March 19, 1983: Alabama — Line started forming the day before tickets went on sale, sold out by 2 p.m.

— May 14, 1983: Roy Clark — overflow crowd

— Sept. 30, 1983: Kenny Rogers — sold out

— March 1985: Foreigner — (kicked off world tour) More than 12,000 admitted

— Sept. 1989: Bon Jovi — sold out

The complete list, the one that includes lesser-known — and less successful — acts, is a long one, telling a large part of the tale of the 35-year history of the Albany James H. Gray Sr. Civic Center. A venue that once was a beacon to southwest Georgia crowds starved for entertainment, a beacon that drew customers like moths to a flame, now sits mostly quiet.

Graduations, special events and meetings are held there, but the days of the Elton John solo stop, the ZZ Top/Lynyrd Skynyrd double bill, the 3 Doors Down/Shinedown/Days of the New modern rock extravaganza have faded to distant memories, do-you-remember-when moments that newcomers and new generations find difficult to believe.

The Albany Civic Center was, indeed, one of the hottest venues in the state after it opened in 1983. Within a short period, it had become the third-biggest draw among Georgia arenas, enticing acts like Foreigner, .38 Special and Reba McEntire to kick off world tours here.

You’d have to go all the way back to Dec. 30 of 2003, when 3 Doors Down was one of the hottest acts in rock music and Shinedown one of the fastest rising to find a non-high school basketball, non-graduation event that attracted a large crowd to the venue.

The hope is that the city of Albany’s privatization of the venue, now managed by Philadelphia-based venue management giant Spectra by Comcast Spectacor, will bring some of the past glory back to the venue. New arena General Manager Josh Small says he’s already started reaching out to promoters and managers, vowing, “We will talk to anybody and everybody who will talk to us about bringing entertainment here.”

Small noted that one of the biggest hopes for an increase in significant events would be continued momentum in developing the city of Albany’s downtown.

“If there are places people can go downtown, people are going to start looking more at what’s going on in the immediate area,” Small said. “If our shows bring more patrons to the downtown businesses, it’s going to be a win-win all around. There’s a certain symbiosis when you see positive development.”

With Spectra’s reputation and its reach in the entertainment industry, it should be a given that possibilities for events at the Civic Center will increase exponentially. The bottom line, though, is that officials must keep perhaps the nadir of the facility’s existence from playing out again.

When country superstar Willie Nelson came to the Civic Center in 2008 — fresh off sell-out shows in other venues in the region — he drew some 1,200 fans to the Civic Center.

Nelson’s manager said after the show, “We cut costs, we made concessions, we did everything we could. You’ll never see Willie back here again.”