Berglund Center Jackson Browne concert debacle❗️ (Roanoke, Salem: for sale, how much)

[Rickcin]

Below is an Editorial that was published today in the Roanoke Times regarding a recent concert at the Berglund Civic Center.

It’s unfortunate that the City of Roanoke cannot do a better job of running the Civic Center and if this can’t improve and be corrected, it will just be another tax drain on what should be a profitable and successful Civic Center for entertainment and shows.



Editorial : Berglund Center was unprepared for concert


Our first-time visit to Roanoke and the Berglund Center on Aug. 11 for the James Taylor, Jackson Browne concert was disappointing, distressing, and dangerous. They were utterly unprepared to facilitate 10,000-paying customers entering their venue, and they made no effort to limit the transmission of COVID-19 at a time when the country is being ravaged by the Delta variant.

We arrived an hour early and could only locate four working doors, all having extremely long lines. With a single security guard and metal detector at each doorway they simply couldn’t process the growing crowd. We found our seats 90 minutes after arriving and missed the first 30 minutes of the show which started on time.

With no ushers in the building, we wandered around a dense crowd of other lost people as we tried to find our seats in a darkened venue. It is mind-blowing to think the Berglund wouldn’t make an effort to delay the start of the show when thousands of people were outside and unable to enter due to their lack of organization. It is equally mind-blowing that when other concert venues are requiring masks AND evidence of vaccination, the Berglund Center acted as if COVID didn’t exist.

In 10 years of attending concerts all over the mid-Atlantic we have never seen anything this chaotic and unsafe. When expensive concert tickets are offered for sale at civic venues there is an expectation the purchaser’s visit will be safe and memorable. We will unfortunately remember the Berglund Center for this regrettable experience

[16 Acres]

I'm not really surprised. Since Berglund is now the sponsor they should put pressure on them to run the place right.

My beef there is parking. There was sufficient parking many years ago and they went and added some additions that ate up a lot of spaces.

And maybe there was a good reason, but when Roanoke Auto Spring across the road went out of business, how much effort, if any, did they put in taking advantage of a great opportunity?

That space sat empty for years until just recently.

Maybe the article above will produce some better results.

The city sure does need to check into this.

[nm9stheham]

LOL.... I grew up in Salem and remember when the Roanoke Civic Center was built.... I don't recall a time when there haven't been problems with it running smoothly. It cost a lot when built and there were a lot of complaints at that time that the city was paying too much for fancy architecture, etc.

The whole 'civic center' thing was a municipal fad in the 60's and 70's; as a fad, it did not pan out they way those who promoted it claimed. So the cities that went overboard on cost and building fancy have paid a long term price; the Roanoke Civic Center has never been anything but a financial millstone for Roanoke.

By contrast, Salem built a simple rectangular box for their civic center and it has done far better, and they added the big outdoor sports complex over the years, etc. It is not big and fancy but it has worked better.

[Rickcin]

Originally Posted by nm9stheham

LOL.... I grew up in Salem and remember when the Roanoke Civic Center was built.... I don't recall a time when there haven't been problems with it running smoothly. It cost a lot when built and there were a lot of complaints at that time that the city was paying too much for fancy architecture, etc.

The whole 'civic center' thing was a municipal fad in the 60's and 70's; as a fad, it did not pan out they way those who promoted it claimed. So the cities that went overboard on cost and building fancy have paid a long term price; the Roanoke Civic Center has never been anything but a financial millstone for Roanoke.

By contrast, Salem built a simple rectangular box for their civic center and it has done far better, and they added the big outdoor sports complex over the years, etc. It is not big and fancy but it has worked better.

I really don’t think the original cost or architecture has anything to do with its current success or profitability and obviously if it’s not managed and run properly, it will not live up to it’s potential and be a financial drain for the City which trickles down to us, the taxpayers!

[nm9stheham]

Originally Posted by Rickcin

I really don’t think the original cost or architecture has anything to do with its current success or profitability and obviously if it’s not managed and run properly, it will not live up to it’s potential and be a financial drain for the City which trickles down to us, the taxpayers!

It has never 'lived up to it's potential' in almost 50 years, and so it's original cost, design, size, location, etc., set up the problem: it is simply too much for what the financial returns will ever be. It will will always be in the red and go begging for good management and funds and will be a burden to you until it is torn down. Just one example of the architecture being an issue: IIRC, the roof needed some costly repairs and reworking a couple of decades ago; a simpler roof would have been a lot, lot cheaper to repair. That is why I mentioned the civic center 'fad', there was more than one municipality that got big visions of how great it would be and bit off more than it could chew.

I very distinctly remember the public debate at the time that the Roanoke Civic Center was planned and proposed, and there were plenty of opinions expressed that it was too fancy, too big, in a poor location where it could not expand, and that has all proven to be true. The powers-that-be at that time just would not re-consdier; it was fairly controversial.

It all reflects one matter that has not seemed to change in at least 50 years.... Roanoke City's ambitions always seem to be above what they can manage well. Roanoke City struggles with a financial disadvantage; the tax base is limited after involuntary annexations were halted by the VA gov't some decades ago (part of why your tax rates are higher there), and Roanoke City has a big financial challenge to deal well with what they have. IMHO, they will eventually reach the same decision about the Civic Center as they did about Victory Stadium about 15 years ago. A facility that is a burden and does not produce the benefits envisioned has to be let go.