Rupp Arena, new expanded convention center in Lexington to get new manager Oct. 1
Lexington’s Rupp Arena, the expanded convention center and the Lexington Opera House will be under new management starting Oct. 1, according to a deal announced Tuesday.
Oak View Group Facilities was officially hired during a Tuesday board meeting of the Lexington Center Corporation, which oversees Central Bank Center. The center includes Rupp and the convention center. Lexington Center also oversees the Lexington Opera House on Short Street and North Broadway.
Oak View Group will report directly to the Lexington Center Corporation board and will manage day-to-day operations for the next five years, according to the deal.
As part of the agreement, Oak View Group is expected to bring new, expanded business opportunities as the newly expanded convention center comes online early next year.
Oak View is not new to Central Bank Center and Lexington.
In 2018, Oak View Group Facilities entered into a five-year partnership with the Lexington Center Corporation to help it better market and attract more Rupp Arena live events. That partnership helped increase revenues for Rupp Arena. In 2019, Oak View Group helped Rupp set a revenue record.
Hiring Oak View to manage the group’s venue was prompted in part by the retirement of long-time center CEO and President Bill Owen and other senior staff. Owen will remain on until June 30, 2022.
“Central Bank Center has been fortunate to have tremendous leadership from Bill Owen and his team for the past two decades,” said Bob Elliston, Lexington Center Corp. board chairman. “As we prepare for Bill’s retirement in the summer of 2022, the selection of OVG Facilities was the right choice to position the center to achieve even greater heights as our nearly $300 million capital expansion comes online.”
During Tuesday’s meeting, Elliston said the group has been working for more than a year on the future management of Lexington Center Corp.’s live event venues.
“We have to have the best team with us,” Elliston said.
Elliston said current Lexington Center Corp. staff will soon become Oak View Group employees. The contract is for $300,000 a year. Plus, Oak View Group can receive bonuses if it increases revenues and bookings and a separate bonus for quality assurance.
No employees will lose their jobs.
“They will transfer over at the same level of pay and benefits,” Elliston said. There were some differences in retirement plans between the two groups, but that was offset by an increase in pay for employees, he said.
Most venues of similar size are moving to professional management, Elliston said.
Elliston said the Oak View Group will also help Lexington Center market and expand its convention center space, which will likely be fully reopened in the first quarter of 2022.
ASM Global and Spectra, two similar management groups, also sought the contract. ASM Global manages the KFC YUM! Center in Louisville.
Oak View Group has a strong presence in the southeast. The company is part of the team developing the new Enmarket Arena in Savannah, Ga. In addition, OVG manages the Charleston Convention and Events Center in Charleston, W. Va., the Convention Center Complex in Jackson, Miss., and the Fort Smith Convention Center in Arkansas. Oak View has a booking arrangement at Thompson-Boling Arena on the campus of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.
Oak View Group is also involved in other new arena construction projects, including the Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, the UBS Arena in Belmont Park, N.Y., the Coachella Valley Arena in Coachella Valley, Calif., and the Moody Center on the campus of the University of Texas in Austin.
“We looked at it long and hard and met with many different groups and ended up with OVG as the group we wanted to move forward,” said Ann Bakhaus, a board member who chaired the committee that interviewed and met with various groups vying for the management contract.
Oak View staff said Tuesday the management contract is a natural continuation of its current relationship with Lexington Center and the Lexington area.
“Based on our success at Rupp Arena, we look forward to expanding our role and bringing our additional resources to all the Central Bank Center facilities,” said Peter Luukko, chairman of Oak View Group Facilities. “We are focused on increasing revenue, partnerships, conventions business, and building a larger community and regional presence as Lexington has so much to offer.”
This story was originally published August 31, 2021 at 10:31 AM.
