Local Boy

Great suggestion, Dan. I did. They dodged the question and reminded me that the Cher show sold out.

I see it's a LiveNation tour. I wonder if The Alerus had to provide a promoter guarantee to bring the show. Does anybody know? Thanks in advance.

It will be interesting to see how the new management structure of the Alerus comes together. First up is the liquor licensing, I'm sure. Here's a good article that gets right to the point of the financial reporting.... http://plainsdaily.com/entry/alerus-center-averages-operating-losses-of-over-50000-for-past-decade/

Does anybody know more details? http://www.wday.com/event/article/id/48698/

The Alerus is a publicly owned facility. Discussing the cost/benefit and taxpayer's return on investment is not out of line. Alerus and City officials have lied to the public in the past regarding the secret subsidies. Bloggers and news group are doing a service to the community by discussing the center.

The Tim McGraw show was announced at least 4 months in advance.

Bummer. Apparently, the Tim McGraw show was a loser. It will be interesting to see how much money taxpayers lost on this event. Major concert events at The Alerus lose from $100K-$350K per event. I would guess this one is in this range. Also, if you all remember, the Alerus Commission and Alerus Management was not supposed to provide a promoter guarantee without City Council approval. There is no way the promoter brought this event without a guarantee. Hopefully someone will see that this information is shared with the public. Terry Bjerke, perhaps? Since The Herald shut down their reporters from blogging, it has become more difficult to get this information. I thought this show would do better because of the lower average ticket price. It probably would have been a better fit for The Ralph. I would guess The Alerus paid more to entice the promoters away from The Ralph.

Piccolo is amazing. http://www.piccolompls.com

For Grand Forks to flood from the the west, how high would the water level have to be? I'm talking a convergence of the overland flooding joining the Red River flooding. A 5 mile wide swatch of water that would blanket the town of Grand Forks. Does anybody know?

5) Did The Alerus Commission guarantee the event organizers a profitable event? Or, are these sweetheart deals only reserved for out of state entities that don't need the money? ;-)

Whoops...sorry for my intensity. I LOVE the header of this thread; "Alerus problems...how to fix them" I'd love to stay on topic. Anyone else? The supporters who rant and rave about the success and economic impact of a facility that presents one show a year and only grosses 1.3M of banquet/convention revenues, don't understand how bad things are at The Alerus. I've submitted ideas to change The Alerus for the better in another thread. I'll do it again when I have more time. Let's do it! The..."You're a small-minded naysayer who doesn't understand that The Civic lost 200K a year" is a ten year old argument and doesn't apply. Thanks

Anyone who supports The Alerus Center is doing so out of emotion and simply hasn't researched the facts. The arena side presents, on average, about one show per year. And, it's a highly non-successful show. Each arena concert with a major artist loses $100,000-$350,000. The convention side only grosses about $1.3M/year. These numbers a abysmal. So, fact is, as far as community-wide benefit, one concert is nothing in the grand scheme of things and the convention center's revenues are 75-90% sales that were realized in privately-owned facilities in the past. We now have 10 years of data to analyze. The facts are in and they're not pretty.

Bob, What on earth are you talking about? You referred to "all of the extra money coming into town due to the shows, conventions, games, etc.." This is totally false. The Alerus Center has three primary missions...arena events, multi-day regional convention/conference business, and Sioux football. The arena side is a total failure. In fact, the property currently has one date on the calendar. Yes, ONE. Also, before the center can book a major concert event, they have to go before the city council for approval. The Alerus loses from $100,000 to $300,000 PER SHOW when the highest grossing tours in America come to town. Also, it was disclosed last year that city council and Alerus commission members were aware of "secret subsidies" in the amount of abut $850,000 that were transferred to the property. Commission members, council members, and The Herald knew about these transfers but attempted to conceal the facts from the public. In fact, they even teased "profits" before the secret subsidies were disclosed. The convention side of the property is also a failure. Multi-day regional conventions have NEVER panned out, not in the nearly 10 year history of the complex. In fact, the convention side's gross sales are only about $1,000,000 per year. This is pathetic for a property such as The Alerus. Also, the bulk of these sales are simply dollars that were redirected from private properties to the publicly-owned Alerus. Sioux football is what it is. I have one question, why did UND sign a 10 year agreement with The Alerus? Sioux football is the only positive feature of The Alerus. Football is in the driver's seat; why a ten year agreement? So, no shows, no events, no banquets, no conventions. What is "all of the extra money coming into town due to the shows, conventions, games, etc.."? Can you explain? The Herald throws new narratives against the wall in hopes of something sticking. It's not working. Their current narrative is "They book the wrong acts". Oh, really? Again, the TOP GROSSING tours in America lose 100K-300K PER SHOW. The Herald also likes to write articles solely based on the property's financials. If the property hosted ZERO events in a year, and recognized the tax funds they receive as revenues, The Herald would publish a story about their financial success. What a minute! Isn't the primary goal of the development supposed to be bringing NEW dollars to town. Watch for the coming positive story about the Alerus' financial success in the future. It will happen. In my opinion, a big untold story is the revenue recognized from suite holders. Why on earth are these entities paying for the suites when there are so few events, 1-3 per year? My guess would be that these entities are sympathetic to Alerus Financial in some way and holding onto their suites in an attempt to paint the property in a more positive light. The Alerus story is simply a story of failed speculation. The sad story is the lengths that VenuWorks, The Alerus Commission, and The City Council have gone to to lie, cheat, and deceive taxpayers for the mismanagement and failure of the property.

I missed this point. Does anyone know why UND signed a 10 year lease with The Alerus Center? I'm just wondering.

I agree. Sioux football is the only positive aspect of The Alerus.

Does anyone know the details of this heating and cooling issue with The Alerus? I hate to be Negative Nelly all the time but....Come on Grand Forks Herald! This spin is ridiculous! The headline, "Alerus Center Mulls Efficiency Upgrades". Huh? Spinning this into an efficiency upgrade story; are they serious? How about "Caustic Chemical Leaks in Alerus Could Cost $1.5M for Repairs". The story says the problem has existed for 8 years. Was it initially done incorrectly? Is there a supplier/contractor liable for the HVAC issues? What are the hazardous effects of leaking glycol on the public? In fact, the story doesn't even clearly state what is leaking. That's part of the spin, I guess. I believe the Herald is doing The Alerus a disservice by spinning all the reporting on the property. Report the facts and let people form their own decisions. "Efficiency Upgrade" story...that's pathetic! What are the facts?

More problems... http://www.grandforksherald.com/event/article/id/174659/

Yikes! "New" Alerus Center Executive Director steps down after less than 5 months on the job... http://www.grandforksherald.com/event/article/id/174255/

SMN....emotional much? The Alerus Commission Chairman is demanding The Canad pay The Alerus a commission on their room sales. Think about this for a minute. A private biz paying money back to a government-owned entity. I believe that if you knew as many details about The Alerus as people who are tuned into the issue, you'd be as appalled as I am. The current structure is NOT working. Can you suggest any alternatives to their current business model? The Alerus is a HUGE issue in Grand Forks that touches UND athletics. For that reason, I believe it's germane to discussion on this board. If you look at my original post on in this thread, you'll see I was simply proposing a discussion on a major civic topic.

Star...coordination? Do you know that The Alerus Commission isn't even playing nice with The Canad Inn? It's unbelievable. Remember when the commission's mantra was build a hotel and all will be fine. Well, the hotel is there and still the convention side is a failure. Green...you're referring to the cost/benefit of the center. Because of the hanky panky played in the past by The Alerus Commission, City Council, and The Herald, it's very difficult for casual observes to understand the true costs in relation to the benefit. BIGSIOUX...I get it. You're a joker, huh?

I started a new Alerus topic because the last one was labeled "Alerus Center Posts a Profit". Time has revealed this to be untrue; search "secret subsidies". So, any interest in an Alerus Center discussion? The property appears to be at an all time low, if that's possible. The arena side is virtually closed with barely any dates on the books. And, contrary to Herald reports, the convention side performance is miserable, also. The Alerus Commission and City Council refuse to accept that, under its current operating structure, it is a major failure. The future and operations of the center need to be retooled to realize any success. Why are the commission and council so averse to changes? What would a retooling look like? A search of my prior posts under the "Profit" thread will reveal I've proposed changes and am simply not a "naysayer". Ironically, I believe The Alerus can turn things around for the better by structuring the center similar to how the old Civic Auditorium was structured. It simple terms, The Alerus is structured and operated under the assumption that it exists in a much larger market. This is at the heart of the failure. It has been almost 10 years of failure, time to try something else. Does anyone agree? Is The Alerus Center so averse to change because the small handful of Alerus supporters that conceived of the failed development would have to admit failure? The Alerus is there and not going away. Time to structure and scale its operating plan to the market, not the previously mentioned pretend market. Any thoughts?

So, any thoughts on the recent sale of Whitey's? At first glance I would say the new owners are overestimating the market. Very simply, selling prime grade beef in the GF/EGF market is a tough sale. In my opinion, the menu prices will simply be too high. Of course, I'm assuming their plans are to offer prime beef.

Did you guys hear Elk mate up to 12 times a day? Dang, I joined Kiwanis.

This could play out to be a total trainwreck. The story I heard (back in mid Jan.) was that Norman was excused permanently from the Fargo Norman's Prime, an establishment that bares his own name. Now, Suite 49 is applying for a transfer of their license to Norman, under the name Norman's Prime, but it's not the Fargo operators? There is definitely more to the story there. On another note, I just don't see the Grand Forks market supporting a prime steakhouse. A la carte menu with steaks in the $25-$50 range with sides in the $8 range. I just don't see it. The prime steak concept was the hottest restaurant concept 5-10 years ago. They seem to thrive the best in markets and locations where customers are entertaining clients and prospects and paying with an expense account. The main question is...who is the investor? We've all learned to never underestimate the power of ego and wealthy investors in the restaurant biz. Story to be continued....

For all practical purposes, The Alerus Center is now out of the major concert business. VenuWorks and The Alerus Commission no longer have the authority to provide promoters with guaranteed incentive deals without the approval of The City Council. Without these incentives, promoters and artists will not play a date in Grand Forks.