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YOUNGSTOWN — After two soft years amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the city-owned Covelli Center, Youngstown Foundation Amphitheater and Wean Park bounced back to 2022 with an operating surplus of $159,489.
Additionally, Youngstown earned a record $353,625 in 2022 from a 5.5 percent admission tax, largely thanks to a Y-Live Luke Bryan concert at the park on July 16. Bryan concerts, which attract around 20,000 people, account for about – a quarter of the annual admission tax.
“Last year was an important step in the right direction,” said Eric Ryan, president of JAC Management Group, which operates the city’s centers, parks and amphitheatres. “I’m certainly happy with the year. We had a good operating surplus and the entrance tax was the highest in our history. It was money coming back to town. Those two things showed that we had a really good year.”
Operating earnings in 2022 are significantly better than 2021’s $19,525 and 2020’s $10,915. That was during the COVID-19 pandemic, when events were canceled for several months starting in mid-March 2020, and then crowds dwindled, largely affecting indoor facilities like the Covelli Center. Other than the Youngstown Phantoms hockey game, there will be no other events at the center after mid-March 2020.
The modest operating surplus in 2020 and 2021 was largely propped up by a federal grant program designed to help closed venues affected by the pandemic.
Additionally, as the country emerges from the pandemic, many entertainers and musicians have a larger market than Youngstown, which is impacting the financial bottom line of facilities owned by the city, Ryan said.
“Everything was shut down for a few months, and then when the shows came back, they went to bigger markets — which made it hard to get those big shows here,” Ryan said. “But we succeeded in ’22. It was a good year and we hope to do even better in ’23.”
City Treasurer Kyle Miasek said, “Coming out of COVID last year and having a lot of concerns about recommitting to the industry has been challenging. Forget it, this year will be a better gauge of what the facility can do. Eric and his team are doing a great job.”
Regarding the operating surplus and admission tax for 2022, Miasek said, “The city is very pleased with the year. We’re bringing people from the community and beyond to downtown Youngstown. It’s a game changer. Circular The theatre, the Covelli Center (and the DoubleTree by Hilton) are the three pillars that drive community transportation and get them consuming entertainment in the city.”
While the 2022 operating surplus is higher than the 2020 and 2021 surpluses, it is still below the 2018 surplus of $256,818 and the 2019 surplus of $412,684.
The facilities have run a surplus every year since 2009, reaching a record $485,234 in 2014. The center opened in October 2005, the amphitheater in June 2019, and the park later that year.
Last year’s surplus of $159,489 was better than the projected surplus of $86,752.
Virtually all of the profits for 2022 were made in the third quarter — the Bryan concert was the biggest hit so far — with an operating surplus of $144,279 for the July-September period.
The entrance tax of $353,625 was a record high, surpassing the 2016 high of $291,527, Miasek said.
Y-Live returns to Wayne Park on July 29th with Kid Rock, Lee Brice and Buckcherry.
Kid Rock became the center in 2013 and is one of the fastest selling places in the facility’s history. Bryce’s Sept. 9 performance at the amphitheater was attended by 5,000 people, the largest in the facility’s history, Lane said. On February 8, 2011, Buckcherry was at the center.
“We expect Y-Live to be another great success this year,” Ryan said.
The park will be able to accommodate 23,000 people for the event.
“We’ve had a pretty busy start to 2023 and look forward to continuing these successes for the remainder of the year and beyond,” Ryan said.
debt
The city borrowed $11.9 million in 2005 to partially pay for the $45 million center. Most of the funding comes from two federal grants.
The city owes $1.7 million on the loan, which will be repaid in full in January, Miasek said.
The city paid only interest until the first principal payment was made in 2011. It made principal payments of $1.7 million in June 2022 and three months earlier.
“There will be no more debt,” Miasek said. “In less than 20 years, the debt was paid off. When we expected state aid, we ended up doing it ourselves. Now we have to figure out how to make it more of a magnet.”
Ryan said he’s glad Arena will be rewarded.
“We certainly have some things to work out in the arena; it’s almost 20,” he said.
Youngstown also borrowed $4 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in 2018 to pay for an $8 million amphitheater and park, which opened a year later. The rest of the money came from naming rights deals.
The city is repaying the loan over 20 years.
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