DEL.ICIO.USThe Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 02/24/08
The Gwinnett Arena opened five years ago with an Arena Football League game, followed up in later weeks and months by George Strait and Bruce Springsteen concerts.
"They came out of the chute pretty hard," said Josh Antenucci, a concert promoter for Atlanta-based Rival Entertainment.
 W. A. Bridges, Jr./AJC | ||
| The Gwinnett Arena. | ||
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The arena, at 6400 Sugarloaf Parkway in Duluth, has hardly slowed in the five years since. Acts as diverse as The Who, American Idol, Cirque du Soleil and the SEC women's basketball tournament have helped draw almost 4 million fans. The 12,000-seat arena has hosted high school graduations, a Jehovah's Witness convention and the largest high school wrestling tournament in the country, the Georgia state championship.
Smaller than Philips Arena, bigger than theaters like the Fox and plopped down in suburbia, the Gwinnett Arena has made its mark in the county and metro Atlanta.
"We've got our niche and we do it well and there's no regrets at all," said Preston Williams, the general manager of the Gwinnett Center. Here are some Qs and As about the arena:
Q: Is there an arena similar to Gwinnett?
A: Larry Vallon is a senior vice president of booking for AEG Live. He has booked about 30 acts at the arena, including The Eagles, Elton John and the upcoming April concert with Keith Urban and Carrie Underwood. He says no.
"There's really not," said Vallon. "There's other markets where there are certain secondary arenas, but they haven't come with the success that this one has."
Williams said that he is aware of a handful of new arenas that are outside city centers. Some, like officials from Ontario, Calif., outside of Los Angeles, have come to visit Gwinnett.
Q:What about the free parking?
A: Vallon says it's "very" rare for an arena to not charge for parking.
"It's a revenue stream for virtually every arena in the country," he said.
Williams said that early on, officials crunched the numbers to see if the arena could sustain itself with free parking. When they determined they could, they committed to keeping the lots free.
"In the long run, it was a good thing because I think it's become a real asset for us in not charging for parking," he said. "If you're trying to ding somebody $5 or $10, it sort of has a negative ring to it."
Q: How does the arena help the Parkview High School marching band buy tubas?
A: Not-for-profit groups like the Parkview band's booster club can work at the arena's concession stands and beer carts. The groups receive 10 percent of concession net sales and seven percent from beer carts. A busy night selling hot dogs and Cokes might mean $600 for five or six hours of work. Proof of the Pudding, the Gwinnett Center's food service operator, estimates that about $1 million has been raised for groups athletic booster clubs, church groups and civic organizations.
"I can't tell you how many uniforms and instruments were bought with money we raised at the Gwinnett Arena," said band parent T.J. Griwold.
Q: How has being in the suburbs been an advantage?
A: Proximity to a large chunk of metro Atlanta (Gwinnett's population is about 750,000) has been a big driver.
"I think there's a large population that lives close to Gwinnett that it's conceivably a bigger challenge to get that population to come into town," said Antenucci, the senior partner of Rival Entertainment.
Jobe Gruber, co-owner of Furbus, the fleet of psychedelic party buses that ferry guests to concerts and proms, notes that a lot of concerts at the arena appeal to high schoolers. "That's a better venue for them to go to" compared to Philips Arena downtown, Gruber said, in that the environment is more controlled. "I think that element of it is a big plus."
Q: How could facilities like the Gwinnett Arena and the Cobb Energy Centre change the landscape of entertainment and the arts in the suburbs?
A: The Atlanta Opera moved to the new Cobb Energy Centre last fall. The Atlanta Ballet will do the same for its 2008-09 season. The Cobb arts center seats 2,750 and has received strong reviews. This summer, the Woodruff Arts Center will open Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park in Alpharetta. The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra will play dates there.
"I think the sooner we think metro, the stronger the city and the region becomes," said Dennis Hanthorn, general director of the Atlanta Opera. "There's too many lines and it's too much of we/they. The arts and theater, the arena in Gwinnett potentially could be used as a way of bridging the gap between the communities."
Q: What impact has the arena had on Gwinnett County?
A: Gwinnett Arena general manager Preston Williams noted a recent AJC Gwinnett poll that asked readers what the "heart" of Gwinnett was. The arena got 20 percent of the votes.
"It serves a huge community need from a public assembly standpoint, from a sports and entertainment standpoint," Williams said. "It provides a quality venue that people have come to enjoy, that they feel comfortable coming to."
Williams said about 60 percent of the attendees at a typical event come from Gwinnett. That means the other 40 percent are spending money in Gwinnett on meals, gasoline, hotel stays and the like. In the arena's first year, a study by the Gwinnett Convention and Visitors Bureau estimated that the arena's impact on the county was $50.1 million.
Q: Is it too far?
A: It's about 14 miles from Spaghetti Junction and 23 miles from the top of the Connector. Weeknight traffic can make it difficult to access. But those who've made the trip say it's exaggerated.
"As somebody who lives intown, I think it's easier to go there and come back intown than it would be to [do the reverse]," said Harris, the promoter. "I've always found it easy."
Gruber, the co-owner of Furbus, profits from those who don't want to make the drive, but said that it's not that bad.
"People that live near me [in Midtown], my friends and all, think that it's far," he said. "I don't think it's a big deal to get out there."
Q:What's in the arena's future?
A: The parking deck, which will fit about 960 cars, will be built over a storm water retention area and is expected to be done around the end of the year, Williams said. The deck will connect to the arena at the concourse and club levels. It will help on days and nights when the arena and other Gwinnett Center buildings are simultaneously in use. Parking will remain free.
Williams also said that the center is considering expanding the convention center and also building a full-service hotel, in the neighborhood of 350 to 400 rooms, that would connect to the convention center.
Williams said the arena has a "probably a good 30-year-plus" expected lifespan. It could be longer, given that the center is mandated to have a capital improvement fund that has to be spent on the complex.
BY THE NUMBERS
• 3,850,000: Five-year attendance (through Feb. 1)
• $76,754,998: Five-year gross sales
• $4,344,622: Sales tax generated by ticket sales
• 157: Number of events
• 66: Sellouts
• 3,850,000
Top five concerts, by tickets sold
1. George Strait, Feb. 21, 2003, 12,710
2. Bruce Springsteen, Aug. 13, 2003, 12,420
3. Metallica, Nov. 13, 2004, 12,336
4. Justin Timberlake, Aug. 7, 2007, 12,327
5. Elton John, Nov. 19, 2003, 12,183
Upcoming events
Georgia Force football, returns March 1
Kid Rock, March 11
SEC women's gymnatics championships, March 29
Keith Urban and Carrie Underwood, April 24-25
Kanye West, May 4
NCAA women's basketball tournament, March 2009
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