Through the first nine months of 2015, the three facilities owned and operated by the Spokane Public Facilities District generated more net income than in all of 2010, one of the district’s most profitable years ever.

The Spokane Convention Center, Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena, and the INB Performing Arts Center all fall under the district’s purview.

Kevin Twohig, the district’s CEO, says the three facilities posted slightly more than $2 million in net income through the first nine months of this year. Through the first nine months of 2012 through 2014, the three facilities had net income of $1.7 million, $1.5 million, and $1.8 million, respectively. 

In 2010, the PFD collected just more than $2 million in net income for the three facilities for the entire year. Larry Soehren, chairman of the PFD board, says the convention center and performing arts center were moved under the jurisdiction of the facilities district in 2000.

One reason for the improved results is that the newly expanded convention center posted back-to-back months of profit in August and September. In August, the convention center on its own made $255,400, and the following month, it netted $64,500, Twohig says.

What is significant about that feat, he says, is that convention centers aren’t historically profit-generating facilities. Their value rests in the ability to draw events and outsiders to town. When effective, their financial value typically can be realized in local restaurants, hotels, retail sales, and real estate, Twohig says. Or, as Soehren put it, “Its ability to put heads in beds.”

“The convention center operates at an annual loss. That’s nothing new,” Twohig says. “However, anytime it can generate income, it ends up being a bonus. The $255,402 the convention center generated in August was a big number and a reflection of the outstanding work by Visit Spokane and the sports commission for booking events.”

Twohig adds, “The convention center has been a massive success. After a major expansion, when construction is complete, in most instances, immediate activity right after is slow because vendors want to get a feel for how the building is going to operate. But that hasn’t been the case here.”

A $50 million, 92,000-square-foot Spokane Convention Center expansion project was completed last December. The Convention Center’s main exhibit hall increased in size from about 80,000 square feet to 102,000 square feet.

In 2012, the convention center alone had a $737,000 operating loss, followed by losses of $948,000 in 2013 and $789,000 in 2014. But through the first nine months of 2015, the convention center only had an operational loss of $537,000, Twohig says.

The PFD has always used profits from both the arena and the performing arts center to subsidize convention center deficits.

Twohig says the 20th anniversary of the arena this year helped garner more events in the building, and the anniversary also was an effective marketing tool for Visit Spokane’s sales and marketing departments.

The performing arts center also helped boost PFD revenues through West Coast Entertainment’s Best of Broadways series and the booking of more single-night events.

Soehren says the PFD board is optimistic for another strong year in 2016. 

“The arena has been on a roll for two years now,” he says. “We feel confident that will continue into next year.”

Soehren adds, “In 2010, we had the men’s NCAA tournament playoffs and the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, and that was a record year. We’ll have those events again next year, but what is different now is that we’ve got a convention center that is generating income.”

Even with NCAA men’s first- and second-round basketball playoff games that are to be played at the arena March 18 and 20, Twohig says it may be premature to expect 2016 to eclipse 2015 and 2010.

“In 2010, the figure skating championships were here for 10 days. Next year’s Team Challenge Cup figure skating event, however, will run from April 22 – 24 for just three days,” Twohig says.