Threeforty Creative Group plans arena football, concert series at Civic Center

ALBANY — A paid consultant’s recommendation that the venerable Albany Civic Center be razed and its space taken up by a sports park has stirred up growing community sentiment to preserve a building that has hosted many of the world’s biggest entertainers.

Two specific groups have taken consultant Tony Peterman’s recent suggestion to the Albany-Dougherty Inner City Authority that the Civic Center has served is usefulness and turned it into a rallying cry to not only spare the venue but to return it to its past glory. And the groups aren’t just blowing smoke.

Threeforty Creative Group principals Justin Andrews and Evan Barber confirmed this week that they are in negotiations to not only bring an arena football team back to the Civic Center, but they’re working with city officials to put together a concert series that will get the Civic Center’s turnstiles clicking again.

That the young entrepreneurs have found a willing ally in Albany Recreation and Parks Director Joel Holmes, who in his duties serves as manager of the Civic Center, has only fueled Andrews’ and Barber’s enthusiasm.

“No offense to any outside group that’s working on a revitalization plan in the city, but we’re not looking for someone who doesn’t know the community to come in and tell us what the people here want,” Barber said. “We’re kind of developing our own revitalization plan, and it centers on downtown venues like the Civic Center and the Art Park.

“We’ve seen news reports recently where some city officials are talking about closing down or tearing down both. We think we can help create the right kind of interest in both places.”

Threeforty is in final negotiations to locate an X League arena football team in Albany. The group has gone so far as to hire a coach for the team, which would begin play in 2016.

“We know there are things to work out with the city, but we can remember when arena football first came here, how much entertainment it provided throughout the community,” Andrews said. “We want to bring that excitement back. And we want to do it in a way that’s affordable and family-friendly.

“The X League is kind of like the XFL version of arena football. It’s high-energy and very entertaining. We want to meet with city officials and come up with a plan that the city can live with so that we can spend the year marketing and building excitement about the team. We want to tie it in with the business and nonprofit communities and even tie the football in with other entertainment events. Everyone we’ve talked to about it, their faces have lit up.”

City Manager Tom Berry said city officials are looking forward to talking with Threeforty about using the Civic Center as home base for an arena football team, but he says the primary concern for city leaders is protecting taxpayers’ interests.

“I think there would be a lot of interest (among city officials) if this is done right,” Berry said. “I can tell you one thing I don’t think the City Commission is going to agree to is subsidizing the team. That was the problem with past football teams here, the agreements were not good for the city.

“We have a responsibility to the taxpayers of the community, and we also want to improve the quality of life here by helping bring entertainment opportunities for our citizens. If anything like that is a good business fit for the city, I think you’ll see that we’re all for it.”

That, Andrews says, is where the Threeforty plan jibes with city requirements.

“We’re not going in asking the city for a lot of money,” he said. “We want to use the Civic Center at a reasonable rate, but we plan to spend our money to make this happen. We’re not asking the taxpayers to fund this.”

Holmes, who became Recreation and Parks director on July 21, said the Threeforty plan fits well into his proposal to not only keep the Civic Center open, but to make it a viable entertainment venue again.

“One of the things I asked for when I came here was to have an opportunity to put together a plan that would show how we can bring events and citizens to the Civic Center again,” Holmes, who came to Albany from Chamblee, said. “What I’ve found out is that there is interest in the Civic Center from outside promoters, but they’re hearing the talk about tearing it down and they’re waiting to see what’s going to happen.

“I’ve asked the city to approve some seed money that would help us bring a concert series to the Civic Center, because if we don’t help put on the events all we’re doing is renting out the facility. We’re working with Justin and those guys (at Threeforty) because they know the business, and we’re hoping their connections will help us bring some artists who will put people in the seats. If we can have success on a local level, I think that’s one of the things that would convince national promoters to look at us again.”

Berry said he will recommend to the City Commission that some $30,000 be used to help promote the concert series. The city manager said it would be a low-risk investment.

“We’re definitely planning to help with one concert,” Berry said. “Joel has taken a very aggressive approach to making things happen at the Civic Center, and that’s what it’s going to take. This would not be an expensive venture, and I feel confident that the city would get its investment back if things are done right. Of course, the devil is always in the details, but we’re talking about an agreement where the city would get its money back first and get a piece of the pie if things go well.”

Barber said Threeforty is not ready to announce performers for the proposed concert series yet, but the first, which would be scheduled around Easter, is close to being finalized.

“You can see why we were concerned to read and hear that the Civic Center is going to be torn down,” Andrews said. “We’re putting together a plan that’s built around that building and the Art Park, and you can’t commit to a facility that may not be here.”

Berry and Downtown Manager Sharlene Cannon said that while they understand the merits of razing the Civic Center, which reportedly costs $1.3 million a year to operate, any such action is not on the immediate horizon.

“Even if it is determined that the city would be better off tearing the Civic Center down, it would be two years before you could even start thinking about anything like that,” Cannon said.

Added Berry: “Any plan to take such a step or to build a sports complex in the city would have to be fully vetted by the community and the City Commission.”

The interim city manager did say, though, that Threeforty’s proposal to privatize and oversee operation of the Art Park is something city officials would be willing to talk about.

“We’re trying to secure the Art Park now, so anything that would make that venue more advantageous to the city has to be considered,” he said. “There is growing concern because vandals have caused a considerable amount of damage down there, so it would have to be carefully considered by ADICA. I think the biggest question is whether a plan fits with any future downtown development.”

Barber said the Art Park would fit nicely into a Threeforty plan to develop downtown through arts and entertainment.

“If you’re familiar with the Winwood Walls in Miami, that’s kind of what we have in mind for the Art Park,” he said. “It’s a simple way for local artists and musicians to flourish without spending a ton of money. A lot of the talk about downtown development is about ‘Build this or that and see if people will come.’ We say the interest is already there, let the art drive the growth and things will evolve organically.

“We’ve talked with people from major cities about that space downtown, and we’ve been involved in everything from black-tie events to hip-hop parties there. We’re offering to lease it and operate it, to invest our own time and finances. All we’d need for the city to do is bring it up to code. If we get that kind of support, we could work with the city to generate interest again in these downtown venues.”

Holmes said renewed interest in the Civic Center highlights a fact few have bothered to check out: The facility is used frequently even if it is not hosting a large number of high-profile concerts and entertainment shows. He offers a list of 2014 events that together brought almost 100,000 to the venue, including graduation programs for the local school system and Albany State University (21,000-plus), WWE wrestling and Disney Live events (3,500 each), three concerts that drew more than 12,000 fans and the annual Mistletoe Market that drew more than 3,000.

“During the (November) Mistletoe Market, we checked tags in the parking lot during the two days of the event,” Holmes said. “There were license plates from 10 different states and 26 counties in Georgia. Those people from out of town had to stay in one of our hotels and eat at our restaurants.

“You do away with the Civic Center, there’s not another space here big enough to hold events like the Mistletoe Market. I know everyone’s thinking back to the ’80s when some of the biggest entertainers in the world came here. I’ve started calling the promoters who brought those shows to Albany, asking if we did anything to keep them from coming back. There is interest out there, we’ve just got to talk to the right people.”

Holmes said he doesn’t quite understand the call to demolish the Civic Center.

“I know it’s costing the taxpayers money, but if we can start bringing events back into the community, we can cut into the deficit,” he said. “And even if we don’t make it a break-even proposition, you have to look at the overall economic benefit to the city.

“If there was a question of whether we should build a civic center here, yes, I might have questions. But this venue is here already. Why wouldn’t we do all we can to use it? I guarantee you, there are a lot of cities that would do anything to have a venue like this.”