Pavilion director won’t wave white flag

Thursday, Oct. 12, 2006 | 7:25 a.m.

Yes, it's lost more and more money each year it's existed and, yes, it is large and white, but please, don't call the Henderson Pavilion a white elephant.

Marie Acosta, who's just assumed responsibility for the costly venue, prefers to think of it as a baby - still growing and hungry for ever-larger helpings of cash until it's strong enough to fend for itself.

(Visually, of course, it's neither baby nor elephant - the cluster of pointy-topped round tents resembles nothing so much as a patch of giant barnacles.)

But the fact that Acosta, an experienced arts director from California, is Henderson and in charge of a newly created arts and tourism department, is at least in part because of the pavilion's appetite for money.

Opened at the end of 2002, the $12 million pavilion is Henderson's largest single investment in the arts. (The pavilion is built on land donated by the American Nevada Corporation and is adjacent to the corporation's housing and retail developments. American Nevada is owned by the Greenspun family, which owns the Sun.)

In 2004 the pavilion cost $312,000 more to run than it brought in ticket sales. This year, that figure is $660,000. Attendance has risen from 20,000 to 51,000. For their money, Henderson residents are getting 11 concerts (one newly added) and 10 civic events (counting the seven days of Winterfest). The civic events are often free or charge only a small amount.

Most cities and counties do not run their arts programs to make money. For instance, Las Vegas' Sammy Davis Jr. Plaza costs about $50,000 a year to operate. However, that venue is only 500 seats and the pavilion seats 2,500 to 6,500, depending upon whether the lawn seating is used. If the plaza were the size of the pavilion and costing that much per seat, it would cost between $250,000 to $650,000.

"There is a distinction that when you have a public facility - like a library - there's a value in a public subsidy," Acosta said. "In my world, this looks pretty normal."

For a venue of the pavilion's size, Acosta said, it can take around five years for it to get its financial bearings.

"But it's not my approach to assume that," Acosta said. "Our approach is to grow it quickly."

One thing that may need to change is the big-name concerts - events that are supposed to break even or bring in money for other events. This year's have included acts such as Don McLean, Loverboy, Morris Day & The Time - acts long past their prime but still costly to book.

Bud Pico, the program manager in the new department, said it is looking to take the pavilion in a "different direction." The new direction may include booking larger acts or hosting festivals, events that the could be ticketed in the $50 range.

"That's not to the point where we're trying to make money off of the citizens, because that's never the point, but maybe to the point where the pavilion breaks even," Pico said. "People seem to have no problem going to Mandalay Bay and paying $150 for Toby Keith so I think there's room for a third that price."

Acosta said it's too early for her to say what acts the pavilion will host next year, but said she hopes to book more acts and book them for less money. One approach is to book acts at the last minute, acts that are looking to book a date between cities on their schedule. Acosta said that, barely a month on the job, she's already had success with this, picking up the Moscow Ballet's touring "Nutcracker" production for a Nov. 14 performance.

Both Acosta and Pico say their job is to book acts that appeal to an audience not served by the valley's larger, glitzy entertainment venues. Events for families and for arts lovers might be one way to do that.

"You won't see us booking Tim McGraw and Faith Hill," Pico said. "That would put us in competition with acts you'll see on the Strip."

The Cultural Arts and Tourism Department will also hire a consulting group to ask residents what kind of concerts and events they like and why they would go to them, Accosta said. She hopes to decrease the chasm between what the pavilion costs and what people are prepared to spend going to it.

"It's best to decrease that gap," Acosta says, "because it's responsible both fiscally and for the future of the arts in Henderson."