It seems almost inevitable that some stories will share a portion of this news.
In Prescott Valley, Arizona, the managers of the Prescott Events Center filed for bankruptcy protection in the hopes of protecting their asset, the Events Center.
In a statement released Friday afternoon, the management cited the need to move forward and continue business as usual. The statement reads:
In an ongoing process to bring stability and sustainability to the operations of the Prescott Valley Events Center on August 14, 2015 the Manager of the facility filed for 
re-organization under the federal bankruptcy laws. The filing is consistent with the operators and Town’s desires to make the Events Center economically viable moving forward. It comes after months of work to put together a plan that would be acceptable to all parties and create a future for the Events Center.Â
“The decision to file is a very serious matter and one that was not taken lightly. Given the financial problems that the Events Center was left with after the Chapter 7 filing by Global Entertainment Corporation in October of 2014 this step was inevitable,” said Brad Fain on behalf of the Fain Signature Group. Prior to the Global filing, the Events Center was financially hurt and struggled to gain momentum while facing two major threats over past 7 years: the litigation brought by the bondholder and the Great Recession. Both of these threats put a choke hold on the building and its ability to attract entertainment, spectators and sponsors. The bondholder litigation seems to have finally concluded and business seems to be improving in the region.Â
Gary Spiker, General Manager of the Prescott Valley Events Center, “We see a bright future for the Events Center.” Going forward we are working with several parties to bring a new start to the Events Center. With the litigation behind us, a stabilizing economy and great partners with the Town and the community we look to reenergize the Events Center. Spiker continued “since late January when the new management took over we have had approximately 24 events in the Events Center and all but 2 were financially positive events. We still have a lot to improve upon and we need to get bigger, more exciting and more profitable events in the Events Center, secure a major tenant and make continuous improvements to the operations, but we are headed in the right direction.”
With this filing we are moving forward with a plan that we see making this a sustainable operation. We are prepared to work through the process, but in the meantime it’s business as usual at the Events Center. All scheduled shows and events will go on and the staff continues to book new events for the balance of 2015 and into 2016.
The Arizona Sundogs of the Central Hockey League called the Events Center home from 2006 to 2014. The Events Center had a title sponsor of Tim Toyota Center.
Prescott Valley is just one more community saddled with an arena that was filled with promises but too few fans of minor league hockey. One only has to look at Rio Rancho, New Mexico and Broomfield, Colorado with the Santa Ana Star Center and 1stBank Center, respectively have failed to live up to the promises and sunshine pumped up so many blouses.
Perhaps the tough decision in Prescott Valley to declare bankruptcy protection is the best. The filing will require precise and monitored processes to recover.
There may not ever be hockey again these buildings but at least the arenas will not rot and fall to the ground from disuse.
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