ARENA Luxury perches go on sale
The arena will be the home of a Central League Hockey team.
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- As bulldozers prepare the site for the convocation center, now is the time for area residents to get in on the ground floor when it comes to luxury suite rentals, naming rights and advertising signs, and club seat and season hockey ticket purchases, promoters said.
"We just opened our campaign, and so now you have the best availability and your first choices," said Wayne H. Davis, president of Global Entertainment Marketing Systems of Phoenix, Ariz. GEMS will build and operate the $41 million arena in partnership with the city.
The arena, scheduled to open in fall 2005, will be home to a Central Hockey League team. Its seating capacity varies from 5,500 for hockey to 6,800 for boxing.
First pick
Davis; Rick Kozuback, GEMS's CEO; K. Anthony Hayek, project architect; and Dave Bozanich, city finance director, spoke to about 100 people Thursday at the Youngstown Convocation Center's inaugural sales expo at the Youngstown Club.
From the club's south-facing fifth-floor windows, attendees at the reception could see the bulldozers on the arena site near Front Street and South Avenue. City officials, lawyers, business owners and United Way and Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber officials were in attendance.
"I thought it was a good idea to show support for the community," said Tod Crowe of Boardman, who bought two club seats costing $900 each per year for five years. Crowe added that he bought the club seats because he wanted first-choice seating.
"I'm excited because I'm a big hockey fan, so I want to make sure I have good seats for hockey," he said. Crowe also holds season tickets for the Mahoning Valley Scrappers and Youngstown State University football and basketball.
"It's exciting to be part of something new and something good for Youngstown. I'm hoping that we can get other businesses to come down into town, so when you come down for an event, you have your place to have dinner before and then places to go after," Crowe said.
"I'm confident that Youngstown's coming back, and I fully support all the work that everybody's doing for the community, and I think it would be a great thing for our company to be involved in," said Susan Scavelli, a real estate broker and owner of VIP Realty Group in Canfield. Scavelli, who bought two club seats for two years at $1,000 each per year, said she'd like to offer the seats to her future customers.
Lap of luxury
In addition to the 500 club seats located in the first 17 rows in the center on the north side of the building, there will be 22 luxury suites at the top of the arena on its north and south sides.
Club seats will be padded and waiters and waitresses will bring food and drink to their occupants. Club seat holders get the first opportunity to buy tickets to playoff games and entertainment events.
Club seat and luxury suite occupants will have exclusive access to the VIP club lounge, which will feature a bar and full-service restaurant atop the arena's northwest corner. The lounge will have windows facing inward toward the arena as well as windows facing the downtown Youngstown skyline.
A model luxury suite can be visited at the GEMS office on the second floor of the Wick Building, 34 Federal Plaza West.
Season hockey tickets cost between $400 and $600 a year depending on seating location.
Besides the hockey team based there, the arena is expected to feature other indoors sports, festivals, rodeo, equestrian and religious events, circuses, concerts, performing arts and trade shows, such as car, boat and home and garden shows, Kozuback said. "It's a multipurpose event center."