Jolt
Monday Jolt: Women and Children
Today's loser: Children's theater.
At today's meeting of the city council's budget committee, Seattle Center Robert Nellams outlined the cuts the Center will have to make next year---along with some silver-lining news for sports fans.
As part of this year's budget cuts, Nellams said Seattle Center would permanently close the Giant Magnet Festival, formerly the Seattle Children's Theater Festival, along with a rotating art exhibit, summer fitness programs, a Seafair Parade event called the Taste of Torchlight, and the MLK Day celebration. (In an unrelated bit of news, the Northwest Craft Center, which has been at Seattle Center for most of the Center's 50 years, will have to vacate next year).
The cuts will result in savings of $170,000.
Today's winner: Women's sports.
In contrast to Seattle Center's money-losing operations, KeyArena was one bright spot---it actually broke even last year, despite losing its biggest tenant, the Sonics, in 2008. Nellams called KeyArena "a success story, albeit one in which actual profit has been "slow to materialize." Nellams credited KeyArena's stable financial footing to the Center's decision to hire a new vendor to manage the arena---AEG Facilities, one of the world's largest entertainment management companies.
"Getting from losing a lot of money to breaking even is not the goal," Nellams said. "The goal is to make some money." Without major physical improvements, however, Nellams said KeyArena was unlikely to get the kind of major sponsorships (and naming rights) that would enable it to turn a profit.
The two biggest tenants at the newly in-the-black KeyArena? The Seattle Storm women's basketball team and the Rat City RollerGirls. The Sonics, for context, lost $32 million during the 2007-2008 season, when it had the worst record in its 41-year history.
At today's meeting of the city council's budget committee, Seattle Center Robert Nellams outlined the cuts the Center will have to make next year---along with some silver-lining news for sports fans.
As part of this year's budget cuts, Nellams said Seattle Center would permanently close the Giant Magnet Festival, formerly the Seattle Children's Theater Festival, along with a rotating art exhibit, summer fitness programs, a Seafair Parade event called the Taste of Torchlight, and the MLK Day celebration. (In an unrelated bit of news, the Northwest Craft Center, which has been at Seattle Center for most of the Center's 50 years, will have to vacate next year).
The cuts will result in savings of $170,000.
Today's winner: Women's sports.
In contrast to Seattle Center's money-losing operations, KeyArena was one bright spot---it actually broke even last year, despite losing its biggest tenant, the Sonics, in 2008. Nellams called KeyArena "a success story, albeit one in which actual profit has been "slow to materialize." Nellams credited KeyArena's stable financial footing to the Center's decision to hire a new vendor to manage the arena---AEG Facilities, one of the world's largest entertainment management companies.
"Getting from losing a lot of money to breaking even is not the goal," Nellams said. "The goal is to make some money." Without major physical improvements, however, Nellams said KeyArena was unlikely to get the kind of major sponsorships (and naming rights) that would enable it to turn a profit.
The two biggest tenants at the newly in-the-black KeyArena? The Seattle Storm women's basketball team and the Rat City RollerGirls. The Sonics, for context, lost $32 million during the 2007-2008 season, when it had the worst record in its 41-year history.
