Partnership Between City of Grand Junction and Pinnacle Venue Services Proving Successful in First Six Months
In January of this year, the City of Grand Junction entered into a contract with Pinnacle Venue Services (PVS) to manage Two Rivers Convention Center (TRCC) and Avalon Theatre. Since that time PVS has been providing full management and operational services of the 23,000 square foot multipurpose convention center in addition to the 1,100 seat historic Avalon Theatre, which hosts a multitude of events including concerts, theatrical performances, movies, variety shows and private functions. This spring, PVS also signed an addendum to the contract with the City to include the management of live, ticketed events at the new Amphitheater at Las Colonias Park.
June 30 marked the 6-month milestone of this contractual arrangement and the results so far have been positive.
City Manager Greg Caton noted, “We are extremely pleased with the progress we have been seeing with Pinnacle. They have exhibited creativity and good business sense and have really brought some great industry knowledge to bear. Things are definitely moving in the direction we anticipated and we are optimistic that we will continue to see improvement.”
“We came in with a strong plan and a solid vision for the venues, and we are starting to see results,” said Pinnacle Venue Services’ Maria Rainsdon, General Manager of the Two Rivers Convention Center, Avalon Theatre and Amphitheater at Las Colonias Park. “Grand Junction is a strong and vibrant community, and that has added to our success. We still have several impactful projects and programs to implement, so that will be our focus for the coming months.”
Notable results at the 6-month milestone include:
- Strong sales activity resulted in the booking of two new large industry summits and over 30 other bookings of various events and conferences.
- Positive net revenue through May of over $75,000, which compares to a net loss of over $158,000 for the same time period in 2016. Net food and beverage revenues reflected $96,000 more than the same period in 2016, contributing to a $233,000 turnaround in revenue.
- New social media/communication tools have been implemented to reach a larger audience.
- PVS worked with City staff to evaluate the TRCC building both in terms of system repair/replacement as well as efficiencies and expansion. They also implemented several preventive maintenance programs aimed at reducing long-term costs while also mitigating emergency repairs.
- The successful ‘Dinner and a Movie’ concept was expanded to include shopping as well. ‘Dinner, Shopping and a Movie’ encourages movie goers at the Avalon to shop downtown before attending a movie in order to obtain free movie tickets. The program saw $131,000 in total receipts for downtown restaurants in 2016, and is already on course to exceed that in 2017 with receipts of over $80,000 so far this year.
- PVS staff created a number of new events that have been well received including an Easter brunch at TRCC, a post-music festival rooftop party at the Avalon, a post-Farmers’ Market rooftop music event, and the “Cinema Soiree” movie screening and rooftop party in conjunction with the Colorado West Pride Festival.
- PVS staff created new protocols, facility rules, security rules, parking procedures, emergency plans, and signage for the Amphitheater to assist with the efficient operation of the facility.
The next status report is anticipated following one full year of the contractual arrangement.
Contacts: Sam Rainguet, City Communications Manager 970-244-1507 or samr@gjcity.org
Maria Rainsdon, General Manager Two Rivers Convention Center, Avalon Theatre and Amphitheater at Las Colonias Park 970-263-5710 or mrainsdon@grandjunctionevents.com
