Four Seasons Arena
Four Seasons Arena is a multi-purpose indoor sports and exhibition arena located in the city of Great Falls, Montana, in the United States. Constructed in 1979, it served primarily as an ice rink until 2005. The failure of the practice rink's refrigeration system in 2003 and the management's decision to close the main rink in 2006 led to the facility's reconfiguration as an indoor sports and exhibition space. In November 2018, the Cascade County Commission, in conjunction with the Great Falls TIBD, and the Great Falls Lodging Association began to develop a plan to replace the arena. At a cost of 86 million dollars, the proposed arena will seat between 10,000 and 12,000 people. The bond is expected to go before voters in November 2019. As of May 2011 it is the largest exhibition, music, and sports venue in the city.
Conception and construction
Prior to the construction of Four Seasons Arena, the city of Great Falls had no large indoor sports arena. The gymnasium at Great Falls High School, built in 1930, sat about 1,200 on wooden benches in an area designed for use primarily as a basketball court. The Great Falls Civic Center, built in 1939, contained an ice rink but no other sports facilities. The College of Great Falls built the McLaughlin Center in 1966, which contained an Olympic-size swimming pool and 1,800-seat gym designed for use as a basketball court. The city's largest sports venue was the gymnasium at Charles M. Russell High School. The gym, constructed in 1963, sat 4,000 in a basketball court.The lack of a large indoor sports center inhibited the growth of professional sports in the city, as well as the city's ability to host major high school athletic tournaments. In 1975, the city of Billings constructed the Montana's Entertainment, Trade and Recreation Arena, a 12,000 seat multi-purpose arena. In 1977, an organization known as Leadership Great Falls undertook a process to provide city civic and business leaders with a vision for the city of Great Falls. Out of this year-long process came the request for the city to construct a large, multi-purpose, indoor sports arena. Great Falls City Commissioner John St. Jermain championed the effort to build an arena, and fought for a ballot initiative in 1977 that would have used city tax dollars to build it. But voters rejected the proposal. St. Jermain then sought and won in 1978 a federal grant to pay for the majority of the cost of constructing the facility. St. Jermain lost reelection in November 1978.
The Four Seasons Arena was built in 1979 on the grounds of the Montana State Fairgrounds. Because it was built primarily with the federal grant and few other funds, the arena was half the size initially proposed. Indeed, Four Seasons Arena was built primarily as an ice rink. It also lacked air conditioning. The arena originally housed two ice rinks: A main rink and a "side" or practice rink. With four days' notice, the main ice rink could be thawed and flooring laid down to transform the main section of the arena from an ice rink into a basketball court, rodeo arena, or exhibition hall. Removal and restoration of the ice took another four days. As initially constructed, Four Seasons Arena had a seating capacity in the main arena of 6,314.
In 1994, Great Falls city voters approved a $7.9 million bond initiative to build a new exhibition hall on the fairgrounds, renovate the fair's historic buildings and Four Seasons Arena, and generally improve landscaping, lighting, and walkways at the fair. The Exhibition Hall was constructed in 1995.
Operating history
owned the Montana State Fairgrounds, and built Four Seasons Arena. Although not designed to be a multi-purpose arena, Four Seasons began to be put to a wide variety of uses. The facility quickly began to show excessive wear due to these pressures. The facility's management also began to suffer. By 1987, the Fairgrounds were more than $600,000 in debt and the county's management of the Fairgrounds and Four Seasons Arena was heavily criticized. In 1988, Cascade County signed an agreement under which the city of Great Falls took over management of the fairgrounds and Four Seasons Arena. But the facility was already deteriorating. In 1988, the Montana High School Association refused to allow the city to host any basketball tournaments at Four Seasons Arena after 1989 because it was in such poor shape. In March 1989, the Montana Class B boys' high school basketball tournament was scheduled to be played at Four Seasons Arena, but a major leak in the roof two weeks before the tournament forced the event to be held at nearby C.M. Russell High School instead.In early 2001, the heating and ventilation at Four Seasons Arena was upgraded for the first time since its construction at a cost of $124,100. Concerned about the stability of the ice at Four Seasons, the city also commissioned a study of both rinks. The study concluded that both rinks needed $1.5 million in repairs and upgrades. But this study was not acted on. The city's management of the facility had also not gone smoothly. Nearly 20 groups which used the facility frequently, but relations between the groups were very poor and various groups accused city managers of playing politics in order to favor one group over another. In June 2001, city managers held an extraordinary day-long meeting of the arena's users in an attempt mediate these differences. This meeting led to a major proposal to upgrade the arena. In August 2001, the various user groups proposed that the city spend $99,000 to purchase a new floor covering for the main ice rink that would reduce the lead-time for transformation of the main arena to just four hours. But this proposal was not acted on. Instead, city managers said the most urgent needs at Four Seasons involved wooded dashers around the rink, a new cover for the ice, portable bleachers to expand seating, upgrading and replacement of power lines and poles, a new scoreboard, and improvements to make the facility comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act.
The city's management agreement came to an end in 2003. City managers argued that they should be allowed to renew the contract. The city proposed using its own funds to renovate the arena, and to begin the process of planning for a new, greatly expanded multi-purpose convention center and sports arena. As a gesture of good faith, Great Falls city commissioners said they had spent $6,000 to study the ice rink covering issue and $2,000 on a handicapped-accessibility study, and had agreed to spend $200,000 to purchase the ice rink covering. The purchased was designed to meet the needs of local youth hockey organizations, which in 2002 were the arena's largest tenant. But it was also designed to expand the facility's use, and reduce the city's subsidy to the fairgrounds. Four Seasons managers noted that the arena had to turn away bands, comedians, and other entertainers because the venue could not be turned around fast enough. Cascade County managers, however, argued that although the county did not have the credit rating or tax revenues of the city, they could obtain grants to make the improvements the city was to pay for. They also said that their lack of management expertise did not matter, as they were considering contracting with SMG World, an arena management firm, to run Four Seasons. In October 2002, SMG said it needed more time to assess the fairgrounds in order to make a firm offer. With Cascade County apparently committed to taking over the fairgrounds and Four Seasons Arena again, the city of Great Falls demanded that the county to pay $1 million to reimburse the city for improvements made there. The county refused, and offered to pay less than 20% of that figure. After extensive negotiations, Cascade County agreed to pay $384,370 over 10 years at 4% interest. On November 12, 2002, Cascade County signed a formal agreement to allow SMG World to take over management of the fairgrounds and arena.
SMG's management of Four Seasons Arena and Montana State Fairgrounds lasted just five years. Although the city had already studied capital needs at the fair, Cascade County paid SMG another $57,750 to do so itself. SMG discovered severe problems with both ice rinks. In February 2003, it reported that the practice ice rink had leaked and the ice was at a slant, which created a legal liability issue for the county. SMG proposed immediately closing the practice rink, and said that fixing the leaks would cost $600,000 to $750,000. Another $150,000 needed to be spent to replace the dashers on the main rink to prevent them from collapsing and injuring players and/or fans.
The ice rink problem highlighted a major issue confronting Four Seasons Arena. The cost of running an average four-day basketball tournament was about $16,000, and the arena lost about $3,000 per tournament. But basketball tournaments generated more than $1 million in additional spending to the city, far more than the revenues generated by ice hockey and more than enough to cover the losses on the tournament. Permanently losing some or all of the ice at Four Seasons would greatly expand the arena's ability to host money-making events.
The ice rink issue was never adequately resolved. In March 2003, the county's insurance carrier said it would allow the arena to keep the practice rink open for another 60 days. Two weeks later, the county proposed keeping the main rink open only from mid-May to mid-June and from mid-August to mid-September, and closing the practice ice permanently. The cooling system under the practice ice failed the first week of April 2003, and the county hired a refrigeration specialist from Canada to determine whether it could be repaired. The consultant estimated the cost of repairs at $450,000, money the county did not have. The practice ice closed permanently. The loss of the practice ice and limited hours of use given for the main ice led the Great Falls Americans junior league hockey team to move to Fargo, North Dakota in April 2003. With the semi-closure of the main ice, Four Seasons Arena began seeking other events to make money. In May 2003, it signed an agreement with the Class C Northern Division high school athletic league to "permanently" host District 7, 8, 9, and 10 boys' and girls' basketball tournaments. In December 2003, Four Seasons Arena spent $9,000 remodeling the old practice ice space. The space was made handicapped-accessible, the floor was fixed, electrical improvements made, the dashers removed, a concessions stand built, and large-screen video monitors installed. The space was turned into a viewing area, and rented out to a local rodeo organization so that fans could watch live rodeo broadcasts. "Sparky," a mechanical bull used for riding and roping training, was also placed in Side 2. In January 2005, SMG announced it would provide ice in the main rink only in September and October. Although this was later expanded to include November, blocks of ice-time were so discontinuous that no hockey or figure skating events were scheduled for Four Seasons Arena that year. When the All-American Professional Basketball League announced it was forming and intended to award Great Falls a franchise, SMG said it would stop offering ice events in the main arena permanently. But the league collapsed just days after it began operations in September 2005, SMG said it would offer more ice time. SMG managers estimated they would lose $30,000 in revenues by adding more ice time.
Cascade County renewed its contract with SMG in 2007. The new two-year contract paid SMG $84,413 a year, and included a payment of 15% of operating revenues of all income over $2.5 million. SMG also received 7.5% of all concessions sales. Cascade County also agreed to subsidize the fairgrounds and Four Seasons Arena by $750,000 a year, and pay the wages of all SMG employees operating the facilities. But in 2009, Cascade County declined to renew SMG's contract, concluding it had learned enough to manage the fairgrounds and arena on its own.
In 2009, Four Seasons installed air conditioning for the first time in its history. The following year, the county loaned $400,000 to the arena to pay for the replacement of about a quarter of the permanent bleachers, upgrading and refurbishment of the remaining permanent bleachers, and replacement of the two sets of temporary bleachers. The same year, the flooring in the concessions area was cleaned and sealed and the carpeting replaced, and the "green room" in the arena refurbished.