YOUNGSTOWN — The city-owned Covelli Centre, Youngstown Foundation Amphitheatre and Wean Park had their best financial second quarter since 2013 with a $125,053 operating surplus.

The city had budgeted the facilities to have a $4,604 operating surplus for the second quarter.

“We really had a great quarter with several big events,” said Eric Ryan, president of JAC Management Group, which operates the entertainment facilities for the city. “It was particularly satisfying to do it in the second quarter as it’s been one of the most challenging quarters, along with the third quarter, for us.”

In the 19 total second quarters since the Covelli Centre opened in October 2005, 10 had operating losses and nine showed surpluses. The amphitheater and park opened in 2019.

The $125,053 surplus between April and June was the third-best second quarter in the history of the facilities with only 2012 at a $229,740 surplus and 2013 at a $205,857 doing better.

“All in all, I’ll take this quarter any day of the week,” Ryan said.

Covelli hosted two 6,000-seat sellouts in the second quarter: country musician Jordan Davis and heavy metal band Judas Priest.

Other well-attended shows in the second quarter, Ryan said, were concerts by Dustin Lynch, Billy Currington with Kip Moore, and four performances of Cirque du Soleil.

Through the first six months of the year, the facilities had a $363,737 operating surplus. It was budgeted to have a $223,834 surplus through the first half of the year.

The facilities also generated $128,968 for the city from a 5.5% admission tax on tickets during the second quarter, said city Finance Director Kyle Miasek.

The tax has provided $174,040 through the first six months of the year to the city.

“The second quarter is usually the hardest for the venues to generate any sizable return so we’re very happy with the results,” Miasek said.

THIRD QUARTER ISSUES

The third quarter, July to September, is going to be difficult, Ryan said.

The Y-Live concert with Tim McGraw at Wean Park for Aug. 2 had to be postponed until Sept. 27, 2025, because of the May 28 gas explosion at the Realty Tower that caused extensive damage to the downtown building and forced the closings of nearby streets, the city’s only hotel and International Towers, which has about 170 tenants. Demolition work on Realty started July 12.

Past Y-Live concerts attracted as many as 20,000 people — by far the best attended event each year — and the shows always generate more admission tax than any other events.

“Y-Live is a huge boost to us, and we also had two shows fall through that we worked to get for the third quarter that got pushed into next year,” Ryan said. “In the third quarter, we’ll take it on the chin. But we’ll have a good fourth quarter with a lot of events and finish the year off pretty good.”

The city made its final payment Jan. 2 on an $11.9 million loan it took out in 2005 for its portion of the center’s construction.

Of that total amount, the city paid $5.1 million between June 2022 and this past January — $1.7 million each in June 2022, January 2023 and January.

The city borrowed $11.9 million in 2005 to pay its portion of the center’s $45 million overall costs. Most of the construction expenses were covered by $26.8 million in federal grants.

The city repaid the loan and interest from operating surpluses, the admission tax and property taxes the city receives that are specifically meant for its debt service payments, Miasek said.

Out of debt, the center plans to make infrastructure improvements with that money.

Potential future replacements and upgrades include its audio-visual equipment, the hockey rink dashboards, new digital signs, replacing the 1,800 chairs on the floor, and building a storage facility for those chairs and other equipment.

The city also borrowed $4 million in 2018 from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to pay for the $8 million amphitheater and park. The city is repaying that loan over 20 years.

The other $4 million came from naming-rights deals.

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