Council considers Chevy Centre management contract

YOUNGSTOWN —City council will consider a contract Wednesday to hire a company to help manage and promote the Chevrolet Centre.

Mayor Jay Williams is strongly recommending council approve the five-year-plus contract with SMG, a Philadelphia company that manages more than 200 facilities worldwide.

With the uncertainty of hockey at the city-owned center and the need to book acts for the facility’s summer schedule, approval of the contract today is “imperative,” Williams said.

“Every day we don’t have them is a financial detriment to the center,” the mayor said of SMG.

If council approves the SMG deal Wednesday, the city’s board of control will ratify the contract Thursday, said Williams, chairman of that board.

A decision on having a hockey team at the center needs to be made quickly, Williams said. He didn’t give a deadline for that decision, but said having hockey is a top priority.

Herb Washington, whose company owns the Youngstown SteelHounds, a hockey team that’s called the center home for the past three years, said he’s encouraged by the mayor’s statements. But Washington said Williams needs to talk to him about hockey.

Washington said he’s had discussions with International Hockey League officials, but a decision on joining the league won’t be rushed.

The Central Hockey League threw the team out of its league June 2.

For the complete story, read Wednesday’s Vindicator or vindy.com