July 5, 200519 yr You know, I don't think I have ever been to a convocation. Are they fun? Is it ok if I don't know how to convocate?
July 30, 200519 yr Watch video here of the pouring of the concrete: http://www.wytv.com/news/local/1752307.html?video=YHI This was a pretty big day in the construction of Youngstown's Convocation Center. But as Gerry Ricciutti tells us, workers are looking well-beyond the project's completion date. While passersbys can see daily progress outside the Convo Center downtown, the focus today was clearly on the inside. Crews spent the day pouring a massive, 4-inch-think concrete floor, for what will eventually be the center's ice rink. The process is both time-consuming and exacting. Convocation Center executive director Jeff Kossow says, "The most important thing to this process is a level floor, as you might imagine, when we're trying to make ice, in addition to a very smooth floor, so they've spent a long time preparing and getting ready for this day." Underneath all the concrete, a series of pipes almost 11-miles end-to-end where a brine solution will help maintain the ice. Concrete project manager Mel Starko says, "Its calcium chloride, like salt water. It flows through the floor, the reason for the brine is so it won't freeze. The temperature of the floor will be about 15 degrees Fahrenheit." While the floor will cure the next 30-days, work is well-underway scheduling events at the center once it opens in late October. Mayor George McKelvey says, "We're going to be rolling out the opening act, the Christmas act, probably within the next two weeks, the schedule will actually show, and the people will get excited, and actually be able to buy the tickets." This morning, we learned of a couple programs coming up. First off, the Youngstown Steelhounds hockey team will play the first two home games of its inaugural season on November 4th and 5th. Plus, a Disney-On-Ice show called "Jungle Adventure", which has never played in the US before, will perform the week after Christmas. Executives say there will be another event before those first two hockey games, but they're not saying what just yet.
July 31, 200519 yr Here's the story from the 7/30/05 Vindicator: Crews lay foundation for area's new team The building's construction is about 75 percent complete By AMBER HYLAND VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER YOUNGSTOWN — A cool reminder that the Youngstown Convocation Center is nearing completion is the work of finishing crews laying concrete for the center's ice hockey floor. Workers got started on the floor at 7 a.m. Friday. They will lay 7,100 cubic feet of concrete for the floor. Jeff Kossow, executive director of the Youngstown Convocation Center, said it will take a few days to cool the floor from 80 degrees to 17 degrees. Only 3/4 of an inch of ice will be on the floor for hockey games. The level of ice can be changed for different types of events. Kossow explained that hockey requires harder, thinner ice, while figure skaters prefer softer, thicker ice for their skates to sink into better. FULL ARTICLE: http://www.vindy.com/content/local_regional/327745423189690.php
August 6, 200519 yr Event in November: TRANSIBERIAN ORCHESTRA. I will get a date tonight But I know its in November! Nice Shows so far for the CONVO: DISNEY ON ICE; HOCKEY; and this. Many more shows to be announced in the next week...
August 19, 200519 yr http://www.business-journal.com/DodgeKeyBankNamingRights.asp By Dan O’Brien As time ticks toward a projected opening two months hence of the new Youngstown Convocation Center, at least two corporations are in negotiations with Global Entertainment Corp., Phoenix, to acquire the exclusive naming rights for the facility. Records show the Dodge division of DaimlerChrysler AG and Global are in discussions toward a possible deal that officials hope will bring in more than $1 million for the naming rights alone. Dodge also has the naming rights to Global’s arena in Hidalgo, Texas. Dodge, along with dealer Frederick Dodge of Boardman, is negotiating payments of an initial $350,000 to secure naming rights, according to a sales report dated June 27 and written by Global and forwarded to the city’s project consultant, Lee Esckilsen. KeyBank of Cleveland is also named as a potential prospect, that report says.
August 21, 200519 yr From the 8/19/05 Youngstown Vindicator: Plan for funding allows flexibility The city may borrow up to $15.5 million from two banks. By DAVID SKOLNICK CITY HALL REPORTER YOUNGSTOWN — City council approved a plan for the convocation center to allow the city flexibility in how it will make up a projected funding gap of $12 million to $12.5 million for the facility. The plan would allow the city to borrow up to $12 million through a one-year note from Sky Bank, which would be converted later to a 20-year bond, and up to $3.5 million to lease equipment for the facility for up to five years through National City Bank, said city Finance Director David Bozanich. FULL ARTICLE: http://www.vindy.com/content/local_regional/284037929863402.php
September 19, 200519 yr From the 9/16/05 Youngstown Business Journal: Katrina Should Not Affect Arena Spending, Officials Say Sep 16, 2005 11:40 a.m. By George Nelson YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- With the bulk of spending done and the materials on site, the city engineer and the construction manager on the Youngstown Convocation Center don’t expect the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina to substantially raise costs on the project. “We’re pretty much out of the woods,” Hunt Construction’s project manager, Michael Perry, told the city Board of Control Thursday. Most materials for the project, projected to cost $45 million, have been installed or on site, he said. “We really don’t have anything coming out of Louisiana or Mississippi.” The first sheet of ice in the hockey rink in the convocation center should be put down the first week of October, he continued, and seating should arrive next week. “It’s coming along real well,” he reported. “Everything is really right on track.” FULL ARTICLE: http://www.business-journal.com/KatrinaArenaSpending.asp
October 5, 200519 yr From the 9/30/05 Youngstown Business Journal: City OKs Arena Contracts, Agreements with New Businesses Sep 30, 2005 8:45 a.m. By George Nelson YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- As the interior of the Youngstown Convocation Center comes together, event bookings through the end of the year are “exceptional,” the arena’s manager told city officials Thursday. Speaking informally to members of the city Board of Control prior to their meeting Thursday morning, arena manager Jeff Kossow said he met recently with representatives of the dance troupe Riverdance. While they were unable to schedule a performance on any of the available dates this year, Kossow said they are working on a 2006 performance date. “We’re into the first quarter of next year and looking at concerts and family shows for the first and second quarter of next year. They’re going very well,” Kossow said. He also said that as of Tuesday ticket sales for December’s performances by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra had surpassed sales for the orchestra’s appearance last year in Canton. FULL ARTICLE: http://www.business-journal.com/ArenaContractsAgreementsNewBusinesses.asp
October 14, 200519 yr From the 10/13/05 Youngstown Vindicator: New arena will receive ticket to open By DAVID SKOLNICK CITY HALL REPORTER YOUNGSTOWN — The city is expected to issue a certificate of occupancy Friday for the city-owned convocation center. Marcia Harris, one of the city's four fire department inspectors, has spent the past three weeks at the facility almost full time, and the other three have spent some time there making sure the center is in compliance with fire codes, said Fire Chief John J. O'Neill Jr. "A building that size is very time-consuming," he said. "There is a shopping list of items that any building needs to be in compliance, including exit signs, fire extinguishers, sprinklers, smoke detectors and other items." There were about 10 to 15 minor issues that needed to be addressed, and they are now in compliance, said Jeff Kossow, the arena's manager. The facility needs the certificate to open, O'Neill and Kossow said. The facility's opening show is a Three Doors Down concert Oct. 29. The arena is having an open house Oct. 22 for the public. Kossow expects 30,000 to 35,000 people to attend the open house. FULL ARTICLE: http://www.vindy.com/content/local_regional/328990847233785.php
October 24, 200519 yr From the 10/23/05 Warren Tribune Chronicle: Public gets peek at arena By AMY McCULLOUGH Tribune Chronicle YOUNGSTOWN - Lifelong hockey fans and those planning to become fans showed up Saturday for the opening day of the Youngstown Convocation Center, taking advantage of their free pass to roam the facilities. Residents from both Mahoning and Trumbull counties got to go behind the scenes during a one-time-only opportunity to see locker rooms, green rooms and other areas usually off limits to the public. Hundreds of people strolled from suite to suite, some even taking the time to sit down and enjoy one of the many local bands or other acts performing below. Others walked through the locker rooms, scoping out the bathrooms, lockers and coach's office for the newly formed SteelHounds hockey team, which won its first game Friday against the Oilers in Tulsa, Okla. FULL ARTICLE: http://www.tribunechronicle.com/news/story/1023202005_new07public23.asp
October 28, 200519 yr Here's an article about spinoff development from the 10/24/05 Youngstown Business Journal: Spring Should Sprout Spin-Off Activity from Arena Oct 24, 2005 3:30 p.m. EDITOR’s NOTE: Due to technical problems, the posting of this story was delayed. By George Nelson YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – By spring, spin-off activity should be sprouting from the Youngstown Convocation Center, says its executive director, and city officials say they have planned for the new businesses, including a casino should state law be changed. Business development around the arena is just one facet of the spin-off activity envisioned by Jeff Kossow, who in late 2004 was named the center’s executive director. Kossow was among the officials on hand for a day-long open house Saturday to give the general public its first look at the downtown facility, projected to cost more than $45 million. FULL ARTICLE: http://www.business-journal.com/SpringSproutSpinOffArena.asp
November 1, 200519 yr From the 10/30/05 Warren Tribune Chronicle: Crowds mill around downtown By JOE GORMAN Tribune Chronicle YOUNGSTOWN - It was not just the Convocation Center that drew rave reviews during its debut event Saturday. The city's downtown also received high marks from concertgoers attending the rock group 3 Doors Down show at the new arena between the South Avenue and Market Street bridges. But it was the crowd as well that had several longtime police officers who were working outside gushing about how nice it was to see throngs of people crowding the city's downtown. Mahoning County Prosecutor Paul Gains checked out the action on his Harley-Davidson and said he was thrilled. "I haven't seen this many people downtown for one event since 1975,'' Gains said. Two downtown office workers who were attending the concert said they agreed with Gains. FULL ARTICLE: http://www.tribunechronicle.com/news/story/1030202005_new02crowds30.asp
November 22, 200519 yr From the 11/19/05 Youngstown Vindicator: Naming process upsets dealer Chrysler Dodge Jeep dealerships offered more cash for naming rights than GM By DAVID SKOLNICK CITY HALL REPORTER YOUNGSTOWN — A car dealership owner who organized a local group to give $1 million over five years for the naming rights for the former Youngstown Convocation Center said he was used as a pawn by city officials. Bob Eddy, owner of Bob & Chuck Eddy Chrysler Dodge Jeep in Austintown, said the group — consisting of about a dozen local Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep dealerships — had a deal with the city in place on the naming rights. Corporate officials at DaimlerChrysler weren't interested in providing money for the center, Eddy said. But the officials agreed to allow the local dealers to work out a deal and name the facility for some of the company's vehicle divisions, he said. FULL ARTICLE: http://www.vindy.com/content/local_regional/284953434160318.php
January 23, 200619 yr From the 1/16/06 Youngstown Business Journal: Arena Costs Higher, Profits Lower Than Projected Jan 16, 2006 7:02 a.m. By Dan O’Brien YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- Lower your expectations -- and sharpen your pencils. That’s the stage set for this week’s show-and-tell before City Council by the interim manager of the Chevrolet Centre who admits profits to date are lower than anticipated and operating costs are higher. “A lot of revenue projections were overly optimistic,” said Roger Swanson, an executive for Global Entertainment Corp., Phoenix, who is overseeing arena operations until a permanent exeuctive director is hired to replace Jeff Kossow, who resigned in December. FULL ARTICLE: http://www.business-journal.com/ArenaCostsHigherProfitsLower.asp
December 4, 200816 yr Three vie for naming rights at the Chevy Published:Wednesday, December 3, 2008 By David Skolnick Local Chevrolet dealers are no longer interested in paying for the name of the downtown arena. YOUNGSTOWN — The city is in discussions with three local companies, one “more serious” than the other two, for the Chevrolet Centre’s naming rights. The city will meet with that “more serious” company next week to further discuss the issue, Mayor Jay Williams said... Post edited 9-4-09 to comply with terms of use http://www.vindy.com/news/2008/dec/03/three-vie-for-naming-rights-at-the-chevy/
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