Chevy Center on a roll but moving forward carefully

YOUNGSTOWN — It was the busiest six-week period in the history of the Chevrolet Centre.

It started with the Jan. 31 sell-out for the Harlem Globetrotters. It continued with sell-out crowds for Motocross, a fight card highlighted by a successful middleweight boxing title defense by Kelly Pavlik, and Monster Trucks and ended with seven Cirque du Soleil performances, including near sell-outs on March 7 and 8, the last two days of the show.

“We are on fire; we’re absolutely on fire,” said Eric Ryan, the center’s executive director.

Between the sell-outs and other shows, more than 70,000 people have attended events so far this year at the Chevrolet Centre, Ryan said. That number will grow to 105,000 by the end of the month, he said.

So what will the center do for an encore?

Be very careful, Ryan said.

“We’re heading into a leaner part of the year,” Ryan said. “We want to pick the correct events that will draw people.”

Read more in Sunday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com