Post by dogcatcher on Jan 9, 2008 7:11:13 GMT -4
Bigger community will mean more shows
Harbour Station Facility 'maxed out' on number it can do, based on current population of area
Bruce Bartlett
Telegraph-Journal
Published Wednesday January 9th, 2008
Appeared on page C4
SAINT JOHN - More than five million people have passed through the doors of Harbour Station since it opened nearly 15 years ago, and Mike Caddell has been there to see it all, the last 10 years as general manager.
He was hired in 1992, while Harbour Station was under construction, as director of operations, after leaving the manager's job at the Saint John Trade and Convention Centre. He has no plans to leave his current job.
"Why would I leave the happiest city in Canada?" he said, laughing, referring to a recent survey that found Saint Johners very content with their lives.
Caddell grew up in Renforth before attending UNB in Fredericton and the British Columbia Institute of Technology. He returned to Saint John in 1984 to work at the Hilton Saint John, and has no intention of leaving.
Since its beginning, Harbour Station has hosted more than 500 hockey games and 200 concerts. In 2007 alone there were 21 ticketed shows.
"The highlight of 2007 was having Cirque du Soleil here," Caddell said. "That show grossed over $1.5 million, and I can quote those figures because they released them in national magazines."
Worldwide more than 10 million people have seen the Cirque's Saltimbanco show, which was created in the early 1990s. The Cirque's drawing power kept people coming for six days, for a total of 30,000 tickets, outselling other major cities, including Ottawa and St. John's, N.L., he said.
When the Cirque was in town, hotels and restaurants were booked solid for the Labour Day holiday weekend, an unusual occurrence in Saint John. The Cirque has indicated it wants to come back in a few years and research shows people will go back to see it, Caddell said.
There were a number of sold-out shows in 2007, including country music singer/songwriter Brad Paisley and southern gospel and contemporary Christian music star Bill Gaither. The Gaither show is coming back for two shows in May because of the strong response last year and one is already sold out, Caddell said.
Confidentiality agreements in place when entertainers negotiate tours prevent Caddell from saying too much about what is coming in 2008.
"We have about 10 shows held on a tentative basis, and if half of those materialize the public will be very pleased, and a few will be instant sellouts," he said.
So far there are only a few shows on sale for 2008, including Gaither, an extreme motorcycle show and Blue Rodeo.
Caddell is hoping for a big hockey playoff run this year, which Harbour Station hasn't seen since the Calder Cup days of the Saint John Flames. The Saint John Sea Dogs are having a good season, recently breaking into the top 10 in the Canadian Hockey League, which means fans should get to see some good playoff games this year.
"I anticipate them going quite far, based on what we have seen so far," said Caddell.
After the Flames left the city, Harbour Station sat without a major tenant for two years, which made managing the venue difficult. Now it has a multi-year contract with the Sea Dogs.
"Like any other tenant or promoter that comes to the building we have signed a confidentiality clause, meaning I can't relay the guts of the contract, like the amount they are paying or the term, but I can say it is multi-year contract," said Caddell.
Despite the hard times, the building has been well maintained. Caddell is proud to hear people say it looks the same as it did 15 years ago when it opened. Most recently a $300,000 state-of-the-art sound system was added, replacing the old one.
When the Flames left after 10 years, it was a dark time. All salaries were frozen, expenses were cut, and a number of positions were kept empty when people left. The first year the centre's deficit stayed at $300,000, but in the second year grew to $500,000, he said.
Over the past 10 years the average annual deficit has hovered around $300,000, which is lower by one-third than the deficits for similar-sized venues in Moncton and St. John's, said Caddell.
If the community grows, as it appears poised to do, then Harbour Station could host more shows, which would reduce the deficit even more.
The deficit is covered by grants from the city and surrounding communities, which averages out at around $3 per person.
"We are basically maxed out on the number of shows we can do, based on the size of the community," he said. "If the community grows, we can do more shows."
But the iPod revolution bodes well for Harbour Station and similar venues, said Caddell. In the past, well-known musicians would only go on tour to promote album sales, where they made their money. Now, with customers downloading the music they listen to from the Internet, musicians are going on tours to make money from the concerts.
With most groups paid in American dollars, it is now a lot less risky to bring in American acts since the currencies are close to par. A few years ago Harbour Station did a comparison with Bangor, Me., and found promoters there could make more money with half the audience required in Saint John, largely due to taxes and exchange rates.
"So I think over the next couple of years you will see a lot of traffic coming into Canada," he said.
Harbour Station hosts more than 100 ticketed events per year, including around 40 hockey games, the same number of days in trade shows and the rest in concerts.
"The big money maker for an individual night is a concert," Caddell said.
Harbour Station has run all its own food and beverage concessions for the past eight years and takes in an average of $3.50 for every person through the door. The facility also makes money on parking, advertising and ticket surcharges.
Last year three shows were cancelled due to poor ticket sales - The Tragically Hip, Rosanne Cash and the New York Islanders exhibition game.
"We can only handle so many ticketed shows because people only have so many disposable dollars," he said.
The best year financially for Harbour Station was in 1999 when it hosted the World Curling Championship. Because of the extra revenue, the deficit went down to $80,000.
Harbour Station provides entertainment to make Saint John an attractive place to live and it also draws people in, which brings business to hotels, restaurants and other businesses. It employs 250 people, most part-time with 12 full-time people on staff.
The Alpine Room and all the suites are sold out for 2008, which is good for the bottom line. A suite sells for $30,000, giving the purchaser tickets to all the hockey games and shows for the year.
Caddell sees even greater things on the horizon for the city and hopes to make Harbour Station a part of that.
Harbour Station Facility 'maxed out' on number it can do, based on current population of area
Bruce Bartlett
Telegraph-Journal
Published Wednesday January 9th, 2008
Appeared on page C4
SAINT JOHN - More than five million people have passed through the doors of Harbour Station since it opened nearly 15 years ago, and Mike Caddell has been there to see it all, the last 10 years as general manager.
He was hired in 1992, while Harbour Station was under construction, as director of operations, after leaving the manager's job at the Saint John Trade and Convention Centre. He has no plans to leave his current job.
"Why would I leave the happiest city in Canada?" he said, laughing, referring to a recent survey that found Saint Johners very content with their lives.
Caddell grew up in Renforth before attending UNB in Fredericton and the British Columbia Institute of Technology. He returned to Saint John in 1984 to work at the Hilton Saint John, and has no intention of leaving.
Since its beginning, Harbour Station has hosted more than 500 hockey games and 200 concerts. In 2007 alone there were 21 ticketed shows.
"The highlight of 2007 was having Cirque du Soleil here," Caddell said. "That show grossed over $1.5 million, and I can quote those figures because they released them in national magazines."
Worldwide more than 10 million people have seen the Cirque's Saltimbanco show, which was created in the early 1990s. The Cirque's drawing power kept people coming for six days, for a total of 30,000 tickets, outselling other major cities, including Ottawa and St. John's, N.L., he said.
When the Cirque was in town, hotels and restaurants were booked solid for the Labour Day holiday weekend, an unusual occurrence in Saint John. The Cirque has indicated it wants to come back in a few years and research shows people will go back to see it, Caddell said.
There were a number of sold-out shows in 2007, including country music singer/songwriter Brad Paisley and southern gospel and contemporary Christian music star Bill Gaither. The Gaither show is coming back for two shows in May because of the strong response last year and one is already sold out, Caddell said.
Confidentiality agreements in place when entertainers negotiate tours prevent Caddell from saying too much about what is coming in 2008.
"We have about 10 shows held on a tentative basis, and if half of those materialize the public will be very pleased, and a few will be instant sellouts," he said.
So far there are only a few shows on sale for 2008, including Gaither, an extreme motorcycle show and Blue Rodeo.
Caddell is hoping for a big hockey playoff run this year, which Harbour Station hasn't seen since the Calder Cup days of the Saint John Flames. The Saint John Sea Dogs are having a good season, recently breaking into the top 10 in the Canadian Hockey League, which means fans should get to see some good playoff games this year.
"I anticipate them going quite far, based on what we have seen so far," said Caddell.
After the Flames left the city, Harbour Station sat without a major tenant for two years, which made managing the venue difficult. Now it has a multi-year contract with the Sea Dogs.
"Like any other tenant or promoter that comes to the building we have signed a confidentiality clause, meaning I can't relay the guts of the contract, like the amount they are paying or the term, but I can say it is multi-year contract," said Caddell.
Despite the hard times, the building has been well maintained. Caddell is proud to hear people say it looks the same as it did 15 years ago when it opened. Most recently a $300,000 state-of-the-art sound system was added, replacing the old one.
When the Flames left after 10 years, it was a dark time. All salaries were frozen, expenses were cut, and a number of positions were kept empty when people left. The first year the centre's deficit stayed at $300,000, but in the second year grew to $500,000, he said.
Over the past 10 years the average annual deficit has hovered around $300,000, which is lower by one-third than the deficits for similar-sized venues in Moncton and St. John's, said Caddell.
If the community grows, as it appears poised to do, then Harbour Station could host more shows, which would reduce the deficit even more.
The deficit is covered by grants from the city and surrounding communities, which averages out at around $3 per person.
"We are basically maxed out on the number of shows we can do, based on the size of the community," he said. "If the community grows, we can do more shows."
But the iPod revolution bodes well for Harbour Station and similar venues, said Caddell. In the past, well-known musicians would only go on tour to promote album sales, where they made their money. Now, with customers downloading the music they listen to from the Internet, musicians are going on tours to make money from the concerts.
With most groups paid in American dollars, it is now a lot less risky to bring in American acts since the currencies are close to par. A few years ago Harbour Station did a comparison with Bangor, Me., and found promoters there could make more money with half the audience required in Saint John, largely due to taxes and exchange rates.
"So I think over the next couple of years you will see a lot of traffic coming into Canada," he said.
Harbour Station hosts more than 100 ticketed events per year, including around 40 hockey games, the same number of days in trade shows and the rest in concerts.
"The big money maker for an individual night is a concert," Caddell said.
Harbour Station has run all its own food and beverage concessions for the past eight years and takes in an average of $3.50 for every person through the door. The facility also makes money on parking, advertising and ticket surcharges.
Last year three shows were cancelled due to poor ticket sales - The Tragically Hip, Rosanne Cash and the New York Islanders exhibition game.
"We can only handle so many ticketed shows because people only have so many disposable dollars," he said.
The best year financially for Harbour Station was in 1999 when it hosted the World Curling Championship. Because of the extra revenue, the deficit went down to $80,000.
Harbour Station provides entertainment to make Saint John an attractive place to live and it also draws people in, which brings business to hotels, restaurants and other businesses. It employs 250 people, most part-time with 12 full-time people on staff.
The Alpine Room and all the suites are sold out for 2008, which is good for the bottom line. A suite sells for $30,000, giving the purchaser tickets to all the hockey games and shows for the year.
Caddell sees even greater things on the horizon for the city and hopes to make Harbour Station a part of that.
It is harder to notice in the lower bowl for what I have noticed but in the upper? Sounds all staticy, like half the speakers are blown!