From the 08/21/2007 San Antonio Express News
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/met...d.342208e.html
Ken Rodriguez: Money-losing dome proves its worth as visitors open wallets
The Alamodome needs a new roof. It needs fresh carpet, an upgraded sound system, a paint job. The mostly vacant building needs a lot of things, actually, and one of them is a tenant.
Ever since the Spurs left, the dome has been losing an average of $1.6 million per year.
A smattering of football games, Monster Truck shows and religious conventions won't put the facility in the black.
The dome is a money pit.
The mayor knows it. The city manager knows it. The people know it.
So why would the City Council approve $8.3 million in upgrades last week for a building some say should be razed?
The short answer: money.
The dome may operate in the red, but the city nets a tidy, if indirect profit.
How's that?
From January 2003 through February of this year, Alamodome events generated $19.9 million in sales and hotel taxes for the city.
It may cost almost $2 million a year to keep the dome running, but the city, on average, rakes in almost $5 million annually.
For a fat, ugly building with no tenant, that's a pretty bottom line.
There's another bottom line to consider. Last year, for example, out-of-town visitors attending dome events spent more than $100 million on food, lodging, transportation, retail and entertainment.
No, we didn't have a men's Final Four basketball tournament here in '06.
But the last time we did — in '04 — surveys showed visitors spent more than $52 million over 41/2 days.
It's fair to ask whether the above figures — provided by the city and the National Collegiate Athletic Association — have been inflated.
I've read detailed economic impact reports from the city and NCAA, but I can't confirm the information is accurate.
For the sake of argument, let's say the reports are wildly exaggerated. Let's say out-of-town visitors spent half of what's been reported.
Alamodome events still drew thousands of out-of-towners, who, over the course of a year, still spent millions of dollars.
Raze the dome?
The city's Convention Center loses $10 million a year. No one wants to reduce that building to rubble.
How does the Convention Center make up for annual operating losses? Same way the Alamodome does — through hotel occupancy taxes.
Yes, before the Spurs left, the Alamodome used to make money, but not as much as you might think.
In fiscal year 2000-01, the dome made $1.3 million. In 2001-02, profits totaled $333,394.
Demolish the dome?
I called Marty P. Hunter, president of the demolition company that razed the HemisFair Arena in 1995.
How long would it take and how much would it cost to level the Alamodome, I asked.
Hunter said no one had ever approached him about razing the dome. So he could only offer rough estimates.
Even then, Hunter said, the cost would depend on the city. Would San Antonio want the dome imploded or disassembled?
Imploding, Hunter estimated, would take eight to 10 months and cost $6 million to $8 million.
Disassembling the dome, he added, could take up to two years.
And the cost?
"It could be $15 million to $20 million," Hunter said.
Whatever the method, demolishing the dome would cost more than some NBA player contracts.
And razing the dome would leave more than a big hole in the ground. It would leave multimillion-dollar holes in the economy.
I hope the Alamodome will be a vital asset for many years to come, but I wonder if in this day of stadiums costing hundreds of millions to one billion dollars if $8.3 million is little more than a band-aid to make this facility competitive with other cities in the running for events that the city desires?