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Multi-Event Center Moving Fast
Multi-Event Center construction going strong
Concrete walls peek out of the ground as construction goes strong at the future site of the Cam-plex Multi-Event Center. As the foundation walls are built up and the electrical wires snake through the site of the new facility, officials hope that once the building is completed it will host larger national events while providing more room for local activities.
Vital to both local economic development and for housing local events, Cam-plex General Manager Dan Barks said the construction should be completed by August 2008.
It's going very well. The winter weather slowed us down a little bit, but we're going full speed now, Barks said.
The current facilities at Cam-plex, which includes two multi-use pavilions, a performing arts theater, a convention center and an outdoor grandstand, are no longer big enough to house the hundreds of local and national events requested to take place there. During the past few years, hundreds of events have been turned down because the facilities were already booked.
Last year, we turned down 185 events just because we were full,Barks said.
With the loss of those events, Barks said local retail shops, hotels and restaurants are also losing the millions of dollars those events would have brought in to the community.
Economically, the town benefits from visitors that come through the community, he said.
Besides turning away events because of previous bookings, many attempts to attract major, large events to Campbell County have been unsuccessful because of a lack of adequate indoor space. But that should change with the new facility, Barks said.
The new 123,000-sqaure-foot building will have large movable soundproof walls that will enable the building to house several different events at the same time. Those walls can divide the building into three separate rooms, each with its own entrance, concession stands and bathrooms. One-third of the building will house an ice arena nine months out of the year.
But the building can be divided even more, since with the use of the movable walls, each of those three areas can be divided into six individual rooms. With that ability, Barks said the facility could host ice skating in one room, a company banquet in the next and six conference rooms in the next area. Barks said they spent a lot of time researching and pricing out movable walls, a necessary move since they'll cost at least $1.8 million.
The entire building concept is designed around those walls which will allow us to go from one large building to three separate buildings and allow us to have from small to large events,Barks said.
With booked buildings for almost every weekend, Cam-plex's current facilities are often used locally for trade shows, rodeos and company banquets. But with seating for almost 10,000 people in the new facility, the public will also be able to use the building for larger events such as high school graduations and sporting events. With the temporary ice portion of the facility, Cam-plex may be able to bring in national touring events such as the Ice Capades or Disney on Ice.
Already interest is pouring in for the new multi-event center, but Barks said they aren't booking events yet in case the construction doesn't go according to schedule and is not completed by the date now set.
Citizens approved the Multi-Event Center in May 2005, supporting a quarter-cent sales tax to raise $22 million for the new facility. But then Hurricane Katrina hit and oil prices rose. When it was almost time for construction, new estimates came in at more than $38 million because of the rising cost of building materials. So last summer, the Gillette City Council and the Campbell County Commission agreed to fund the additional $16 million to complete the building.
With the increase in population the area is currently experiencing, the sales tax money is coming in faster than originally expected. By the end of April, about $9.7 million had already been raised.
Once completed, Barks said he hopes more events like the National High School Rodeo or the Pyrotechnics Convention will book the Multi-Event Center. While bringing money to the community, those types of events also give local residents a wealth of entertainment from rodeos and concerts to large-scale fireworks displays. Barks said the new building will provide new quality of life events for local residents whether it's a big national affair or a small family-oriented event.
It may be watching your third grader on stage. It may be a company event or it may be a garage sale where you find a treasure, he said. It's a facility, as is all of Cam-plex, for community events.
-By Lisa Bisbee