DOWNTOWN ARENA TIME LINE From the Youngstown Convocation Center, to the Chevrolet Centre to the Covelli Centre, here is the history of the downtown arena:

June 2000: Then-U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr. gets $26.8 million into a U.S. Housing and Urban Development spending bill for a downtown arena. Then-President Clinton approves the bill in July 2000. Traficant immediately butts heads with city officials over his urging to establish a nonprofit board to build and operate the center.

September 2000 : City agrees to establish a 13-member board to oversee the project.

January 2001: The arena board meets for the first time, but the question of who controls the money and the project remains unresolved.

April 2001: Then-Youngstown Mayor George M. McKelvey says the arena project should be scaled back if the private sector doesn’t make up the funding gap between the $26.8 million federal grant for the facility and the expected $40 million-plus cost to build it.

May 2001: City council decides that the facility will be built on land along the Mahoning River between the South Avenue and Market Street bridges and doesn’t include the arena board in the site-selection process.

February 2002: Problems between the arena advisory board and city officials end as the board dissolves.

January 2003: The city buys the 25.6-acre property between the bridges for $1.5 million.

December 2003: An attempt to take the $26.8 million federal grant and use it for downtown development dies and the city focuses its effort on building the arena.

March 2004: The city signs a construction and management contract with International Coliseums Co. and its subsidiaries, including Global Entertainment Group, for the arena, estimated to cost $41.25 million.

June 2004: Construction officially starts on the arena.

December 2004: Global names Jeff Kossow as the facility’s executive director.

July 2005: City officials reveal the cost of the arena is $45 million, and the city borrows $11.9 million to make up a funding gap.

October 2005: The facility’s first paid event is a concert by 3 Doors Down that attracts 4,042 people with a net profit of $3,765. It’s followed the next day by a Tony Bennett concert with 3,230 in attendance, making a net profit of $2,556.

November 2005: Youngstown SteelHounds, a team in the ICC-owned Central Hockey League, plays its first home game. The team folded three years later.

November 2005: City announces a three-year deal with General Motors to rename the Youngstown Convocation Center to the Chevrolet Centre.

December 2005: Kossow resigns, followed by three other executive directors during the next 15 months.

December 2006: Center officials announce the facility lost $164,503 during its first 12 months of operating, October 2005 to September 2006. Global had estimated a $1.15 million profit in August, later revised in January 2006 to $652,264. When city goes to calendar years – rather than October to September – it’s revealed the facility lost $541,298 in 2006. The relationship between the city and Global deteriorates over the poor economic performance of the center.

March 2007: The Mahoning Valley Thunder, an af2 indoor arena football team, plays its first home game at the center. The team went out of business after three seasons.

May 2007: Global’s financial estimate for the first quarter of 2007 is only 6 percent of what the company predicted.

June 2007: As the relationship between Global and the city deteriorates, Youngstown decides to eliminate a $3.50-per-ticket parking and facility fee, shared between the two, with a 9.5-percent admission tax with all of the money going to the city, effective Oct. 1. It would take several more months for the tax to take full effect.

September 2007: ICC files a federal lawsuit against the city claiming it violated the company’s management contract. ICC had agreed to pay $600,000 to the city because its projections on profits were incorrect, but objected to the admission tax.

October 2007: The city dissolves its deal with Global and hires Eric Ryan, a concert promoter from Struthers, to run the center on an interim basis.

January 2008: The center lost $247,510 in 2007.

April 2008: City replaces GetTix.Net, an ICC subsidiary, as its ticket agency with Ticketmaster. GetTix hadn’t paid anything to the city while Ticketmaster guaranteed payments to the city of at least $25,000 a year.

June 2008: City signs a contract with SMG, a Philadelphia company, to help Ryan manage the center. Ryan is named executive director.

June 2008: Singer Carrie Underwood’s concert is the center’s quickest sell-out ever. It’s the first of several major concerts Ryan books for the facility as its executive director.

July 2008: City lowers the admission tax from 9.5 percent to 5.5 percent.

October 2008: General Motors doesn’t renew its naming-rights contract with the center, but the name remains until May 2009 as the center looks for another corporate sponsor.

November 2008: The Mahoning Valley Phantoms of the North American Hockey League move most of its home games to the center. The team would fold after that season.

January 2009: The center announces a $310,435 loss for 2008.

February 2009: A boxing card headlined by then-middleweight boxing champion Kelly Pavlik sets a center attendance record of 7,334.

April 2009: Center signs a naming-rights deal with Covelli Enterprises to call the facility the Covelli Centre. The name remains.

October 2009: The Youngstown Phantoms of the United States Hockey League starts playing its home games at the center. The team continues to play there.

November 2009: About 12,000 people attend two shows by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra on the same day.

January 2010: Center announces it finished 2009 with its first ever operating surplus, $153,950.

May 2010: Elton John performs at the center for the first time. It becomes the facility’s fastest sell-out at about 20 minutes.

January 2011: Center says it finished 2010 with an operating surplus of $110,434.

May 2011: Tim McGraw plays to a sell-out crowd at the center.

August 2011: Barry Manilow, backed by the Youngstown Symphony, sells out the Covelli Centre.

September 2011: The city makes its first principal payment of $275,000 on the $11.9 million it borrowed to pay for its share of construction costs. It had paid $5.03 million in interest payments.

January 2012: Center announces it ended 2011 with a $126,314 surplus.

April 2012: Then-Mayor Charles Sammarone considers selling the center. After a study is done, and no one offers to buy it, the mayor drops the idea in April 2013.

April 2012: The state Legislature approves a bill that includes forgiving payment of $4.75 million in delinquent taxes and penalties. Also, the center is given tax-exempt status.

May 2012: City ends its food-and-beverage contract with Centerplate and turns it over to Eric Ryan’s company. It ends up bringing in additional revenue to the city.

September 2012: City seeks competitive proposals from lending institutions for its principal debt. The interest rate drops from 4.98 percent in 2011 to 1 percent.

November 2012: New deal with Ticketmaster increases city’s profit on ticket sales to about $50,000 annually.

March 2013: An operating surplus for 2012 of $320,787 is announced.

May 2013: City signs a five-year extension to have Ryan’s company continue to run the center. The city scales back its contract with SMG.

September 2013: Covelli Enterprises signs a three-year extension to retain naming rights of the facility.

February 2014: Center announces a record $485,234 surplus for 2013.

February 2014: Second Elton John concert sets center attendance record at 7,611. The event makes a profit of about $300,000.

March 2014: Center signs a five-year extension with the Youngstown Phantoms.

June 2014: Rod Stewart performs at a sold-out show.

February 2015: A record $485,234 operating surplus for the center in 2014 is announced.

August 2015: City signs deal with architectural firms to design an amphitheater at the center.

Source: Vindicator files