May 08, 2008 10:16 am
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By Sean Bailey and Samantha Swindler
The Corbin Expo and Agricultural center now has a management firm and according to Robert Cavalieri, senior vice president at SMG the expo center’s management firm, Corbin could some day host the likes of Brad Paisley, Martina McBride, Trace Adtkins and other up and coming/arena acts.
Cavalieri said there are two groups of acts that the Corbin Expo Center won’t be able to get — the Disney set and the dinosaur rockers. Cavalieri describes the Disney set as including superstar Hannah Montana, The Jonas Brothers and other Disney/teen sensations. He includes the likes of the Rolling Stones and U2 in the dinosaur rock bands.
“But everybody else that is in the four, five, six thousand seat range could perform here,” Cavalieri.
Cavalieri says the Philadelphia based management firm he works for, SMG, has operations all over the world, including theaters and convention centers in Europe, the Superdome in New Orleans, even a new building in China. Though the company works all over the globe, it will tailor it’s service to Corbin.
“One of the things that’s important to understand while we are a management company, its not our building, it’s the community’s building,” Cavalieri said. “If there is an event that we think will be controversial or a bring a problem, we’ll discuss it with [the city commission].”
Hosting concerts will be just a small portion of the expo’s calendar. Cavalieri said that nearly every imaginable event could take place at the expo center.
“Everybody will find something, family shows, wrestling will come, whatever we think will work ... we’ll have high school events, bull riding, all that stuff. The building will make a great venue for high school basketball. There isn’t an event we can’t figure out how to do,” Cavalieri said.
The expo center won’t have a basketball court, but high school basketball tournaments have been done before in similar buildings, according to Cavalieri, crews are able to install flooring and baskets and tear them down after the events. Dirt can be hauled in and cleaned out for bull-riding and equestrian events. Cavalieri said the imagination and demand is the limit.
Steve St. John is SMG’s general manager at the East Kentucky Expo Center in Pikeville. Both St. John and Cavalieri say Pikeville is a good example of what Corbin’s expo center will be like. Corbin, though, has one advantage, it’s close proximity to Interstate 75. As Cavalieri explained it may actually be hard for people to get lost on their way to the expo center.
St. John says it is sometimes surprising to people in the area what events attract the most people.
“We consistently have good attendance once a quarter with alternative rock bands. You wouldn’t think there would be that many fans of that genre in the area but there is,” St. John said.
St. John and Cavalieri agreed that the wide availability of cable TV and the Internet have helped spread entertainment genres that were once regional.
Even in the information age though, Cavalieri and St. John stressed that it will be SMG’s mission and the mission of the yet to be appointed expo center manager to learn all they can about the people in the area.
“We really want the community to be happy with what is going on here, and to be really proud of it, and of course to look forward to going to the center. One of the things that is important is to make sure it has a good reputation throughout the city and area. Not everybody is going to like everything, but there will be something there for everybody” Cavalieri said.
Cavalieri said at this point SMG has identified four candidates for the manager position of the Corbin expo center. SMG is looking for a very specific skill set, and since there has never been anything like the expo center in Corbin before, the future manager may not be from the area, but rather from SMG’s ranks. Cavalieri said whomever they pick, their personality will be right for Corbin.
Corbin Mayor Willard McBurney said the city’s contract with SMG is for one year, which can be renewed annually.
McBurney said he and the city commissioners are really excited to work with the company.
“They’ve been a good company to work with and I think this is going to be a good marriage,” McBurney said.
McBurney said reports that the city was close to signing a contract with Global Spectrum, another management firm, were not accurate.
The previous city commission administration had been in negotiations with Global Spectrum, but as city manager Bill Ed Cannon said the city “wasn’t ever close” to entering into a contract.
The city commission had a special meeting on Wednesday to grant authority for the mayor to enter into the contract with SMG.
According to Cavalieri, if construction stays on track his firm will take over management of the expo center in January of next year.
Cavalieri stresses that once his firm takes over management of the expo center the city won’t be far from the operations. Cavalieri said the city will have a contact person ready to answer questions.
“We will be an open book for the city,” Cavalieri said.
Although Cavalieri promises to be an open book for city officials, he won’t be able to share all events with the public until they have been confirmed.
“From my perspective, it’s important for me to get the message across about how much we’ve enjoyed working with the city, and the contractors, it’s going to be a very good marriage,” Cavalieri said.
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