Time flies, and carpet and wallpaper grow thin.
The Qwest Center Omaha is starting to show some age after six years of concerts and conventions and more than 7 million visitors. Officials at the center are beginning to plan for expensive renovation projects, including replacing more than 120,000 square feet of carpet.
A new scoreboard also may be purchased within the next four years.
The renovations will be the start of an ongoing effort to keep the Qwest Center as up-to-date and spiffy as possible. Exactly how much will be spent over the coming years is unknown, but a good share of the center's $12 million reserve fund and future profits may go toward improvements.
“If we don't keep the building up, then people will quit coming,” said Roger Dixon, president of the Metropolitan Entertainment and Convention Authority board.
The board oversees the Qwest Center, the city's premier entertainment venue on the riverfront. It hosts some of the area's biggest concerts, conventions, trade shows and sporting events.
The convention center and arena opened in 2003, after voters approved the sale of $198 million in bonds.
At the time, the decision was made to repay the bonds through the city's coffers and tax revenue generated by the Qwest Center, and any operating profit would be used to maintain a quality building.
Supporters of the Qwest Center wanted to ensure that it always had the money to maintain a fresh and bright look, so it didn't take on the dingy feel of a cash-strapped government building.
“The city takes care of the bond debt. We take care of operations,” said Dixon.
During each of the past two years, the center has generated about $3.7 million in operating profit. That money and past profits have been used to build a $12 million reserve fund.
That fund will be used toward the upcoming renovations, which will be spread over the next two or three years.
The proposed upgrades are not the first at the Qwest Center.
In 2006, the center finished a $6 million expansion project, which included 1,500 additional seats and more concession areas and restrooms at the north end of the arena.
Any renovations done at the Qwest Center are — by their very nature — a large undertaking.
The entire building totals about 1 million square feet. In addition to the arena and the convention floor, the Qwest Center has 16 meeting rooms, more than 200 toilets, a large kitchen and 12 concession stands.
It also has lots of carpet, which must be replaced before it becomes “ragged,” said Dixon.
It will take about $2 million to replace the custom-blend carpet.
New wallpaper will cost $1 million. And it will cost $1 million to put new upholstery on the 15,000 chairs in the arena and to reupholster the folding chairs used on the floor during concerts.
Another big purchase may be replacing the scoreboard in the center of the arena, probably sometime in the next four years. A scoreboard becomes outdated after about 10 years as new technology and newer and clearer scoreboards are developed, Dixon said.
A new scoreboard will cost about $4 million to $5 million, compared with the $2 million spent for the current scoreboard.
“It takes a lot of time and a lot of labor to keep this facility up,” said Dixon.
Contact the writer:
444-1309, robynn.tysver@owh.com
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