CONVOCATION CENTER Event ticket price to reflect service fee

Less than $1 of the fee will go toward parking.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
CITY HALL REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Those purchasing a ticket for events at the city's convocation center will pay a service fee of up to $2.50 to help offset the costs of parking, maintaining the facility and other services.
"It's a way to gain some revenue for expenses related to the event," said Jeff Kossow, the facility's executive director.
Other cities charge similar or higher service fees and have patrons pay about $10 to $20 for parking, he said.
Of the Youngstown center's fee, less than $1 goes toward parking, Kossow said.
The city is still finalizing negotiations with USA Parking Systems to provide parking in the downtown area. The Cleveland company has at least 1,700 parking spaces at its two parking decks -- on Walnut Street and at East Commerce and Champion streets -- and numerous lots for convocation center patrons.
Tickets for most events will carry a $2.50 fee, but it will be less in some cases, Kossow said. For example, the fee for Youngstown SteelHounds hockey tickets will be $1.50, and some events will have a $1 fee per ticket, he said.
How it's determined
The fee is largely driven by the cost of the event, Kossow said.
The facility will provide about 300 parking spaces on its property for suite and club seat owners as well as for the SteelHounds, the Central Hockey League team playing its home games at the arena.
The city could have built a larger parking lot at the center site and charged more than $1 a ticket for patrons to park, Kossow said.
But city officials want to keep down the cost of attending events at the arena, he said. Also, city officials want people to walk through portions of its downtown -- particularly to patronize restaurants, bars and small businesses -- to help with its revival, he said.
The arena, estimated to cost $45.38 million, will host an open house Saturday. The first paid event at the facility is an Oct. 29 concert by the group 3 Doors Down.
The service fee for 3 Doors Down and the Oct. 30 Tony Bennett concert is $2.50 per ticket.
skolnick@vindy.com