[ad_1]
General manager Jim Grafstrom says operating the Fayetteville venue during the COVID-19 pandemic has been challenging.
| The Fayetteville Observer
Since March 17, the behemoth Crown Complex largely has sat empty out on U.S. 301 in the eastern part of Fayetteville.
The facility is closed to the public.
The last concert was staged March 6 — five months ago — when the Four Tops and the Temptations played a Community Concerts show that drew a crowd of roughly 1,600 in the old Crown Theatre.
A week later, on March 13, several events were held on the grounds of the Crown Complex, including a cheerleading competition inside the coliseum and the annual Hugs and Kisses consignment sale in the Expo Center.
“Those were the last events we held,” general manager Jim Grafstrom said. “We were still operating the venue at fairly normal capacity until the end of March. That’s when the lockdown happened.”
Blame COVID-19, which has remained a troublesome and deadly disease since first emerging on the West Coast of the United States along the early months of 2020.
The pandemic is proving that it’s far from over. More than 159,000 Americans have died from the coronavirus, and hundreds more are dying from the virus every day.
“It’s a challenge, that’s for sure. The Crown Coliseum. The complex, as a whole,” Grafstrom said of running the business amid the crisis. “We’re currently closed under executive order since we’re classified as an entertainment venue. From an event standpoint, the facilities are closed. That doesn’t mean that our staff doesn’t go to work.
“We’re conducting business. We’re certainly doing that,” he said. “We’re maintaining client contacts. We’re making sure we remain on the radar as this pandemic plays out. We’re trying to lay the groundwork for entertainment as we deal with the pandemic.”
As a money-saving measure, Grafstrom said, the utilities to the complex are basically shut down.
“That’s a huge cost-saving measure to ensure that we’re the best stewards of the money we receive,” he said Thursday. “The building is hot. We’re not taking on any extra expense.”
In the wake of the spread of the coronavirus in the Fayettevillle community, scheduled concerts and special events at the Crown Complex have been postponed or canceled outright.
Those attractions have included concerts featuring country artist Cody Jinks and Christian rock act Casting Crowns, as well as the annual Cumberland County Fair and popular Holly Day Fair which for 53 years has traditionally helped kick off the Christmas shopping season.
Casting Crowns and Jinks have since been rescheduled for Oct. 17 and Jan. 30, respectively.
Further down the road, the all-vocal country band Home Free is booked for March 4, and the veteran Oak Ridge Boys are set to take the stage for a Community Concerts performance on April 29. Both shows are planned for the Crown Theatre.
Fayetteville’s Ultimate Lip Sync Showdown is scheduled for the Crown Ballroom on March 20.
“We’re still working on (20)20-21,” Grafstrom said. “The consensus out there seems to be — they are anticipating a full-blown concert world in 2021, likely starting in late spring or early summer.”
The Crown website states: “While we do not expect concerts or family shows to occur at the Crown Complex throughout the fall months, we are remaining hopeful that the industry will be able to work together to adapt and achieve some level of event experience in the late fall/winter presuming that concerts, family shows and other touring productions are prepared to return to the road in that time period.”
Because North Carolina remains in Phase 2 of the reopening of the economy, the Crown Complex is continuing to adhere to N.C. Gov. Roy Cooper’s Executive Order 141. The directive prohibits mass gatherings of no more than 10 people indoors or 25 people outdoors.
This prohibition applies to all events, including fairs and festivals that may take place in the Crown Complex parking lots.
On its website, the complex states that, according to a provision of the state order, it can hold outside drive-in style events in which all spectators stay in their vehicles and the number of employees and performers in the outdoor location is limited to 25.
Phase 3 of the Governor’s gradual reopening plan is expected to allow for increased capacities at entertainment venues, however, guidance on what “increased capacities” entails in this phase is not yet available. Reaching Phase 3 of the state’s reopening does not mean there will be a flood of returning event activity at that time, the Crown’s website states.
In the meantime, Grafstrom said, “We’re very tied into the industry and what the best practice is for reopening the facility. We’re evaluating and altering the cleaning practices. Just our standard protocols for patrons entering the building. One thing people expect to see — there’s hand sanitizer everywhere. Plexiglass shields are protecting customers from staff.
When it’s made available, the Crown will encourage cashless transactions to limit the touches between patrons and staff.
Grafstrom noted how a group of live entertainment venues, including the Crown, DPAC in Durham and the Red Hat Amphitheater and PNC Arena in Raleigh, have formed a coalition called nclivecoalition.
“We’ve all joined together to share the best plans for a concert and entertainment events in our state,” he said. “We’re working together to do the best practices to reopen our facilities. We’re really sharing our best practices and, hopefully, come to a point where we’re working together to make sure patrons are returning to our events.”
Going into March, Grafstrom said, the forecast expectations were that the Crown Center was going to produce the highest revenue since Spectra Venue Management took over the facility in 2013.
“The fiscal year just ended. We did achieve the budget last year, which just concluded, which has four months of COVID in it,” he said. “One reason we were able to achieve the budget was because we were off to a fantastic start.”
The annual budget for fiscal year 2019-2020 was a net loss of $2.91 million, Grafstrom said. That was $180,000 ahead of the budget.
“We were very happy to get to that number,” he said.
In order to keep operating costs bare bones, as Grafstrom put it, Crown management has “done everything to make sure we’re managing the budget for survivability into the future. It’s usually a concern with the lack of progress in combating the virus nationwide.”
While the Crown is closed, construction work has continued.
Most of that work is outdoors, including the repaving and resurfacing of the parking lot. Bathroom stalls and fixtures are being adjusted and a chiller is being replaced.
“These projects are all moving forward,” Grafstrom said. “It’s nice to be able to get these projects completed.”
Eventually, a stepped approach to reopening the complex is the plan. Grafstrom would prefer reopening the venue with a smaller event — something that has a lower capacity — such as a banquet function where guests can spread out in the ballroom.
“We’ll develop the proper procedures and, once in place, we’ll make sure we’re in compliance to mitigate the spread of coronavirus in our community,” he said. “Everybody is working hard to see how we can get back to some semblance of normalcy.”
Staff writer Michael Futch can be reached at mfutch@fayobserver.com or 910-486-3529.
[ad_2]
Source link