The Ford Center has completed its first year of events and it's time for a review. Venuworks, the company that manages the arena, met with the Redevelopment Commission today to present its inaugural report. Year one is in the books, the Ford Center and Venuworks say the total revenue passed eight million dollars, keeping the arena highly competitive to attract hot acts. With almost 150 events like sports and charitable functions, the Ford Center says more organizations wanted to use the arena than projected, which officials say is a good sign. Details of the report say the almost ten thousand seat facility is filling up often. Parking was expected to be a big an issue, but Venuworks says its been smooth sailing. "It's just remarkable, you walk down the sidewalk ten minutes after the final encore of a concert and it could be a sold out concert and there's no traffic. I mean it just goes and I think that's really because there so much parking on all four sides of the arena so it just dissipates" Venuworks President and Owner Steve Peters tells us. Peters says Venuworks currently has a diversity roundtable to work on bringing more unique acts to the tri-state. Between now and Memorial Day, there's about a dozen events coming into downtown which officials say is great for our economy and great for you if you're interested in attending.
