Though the Alliant Energy Center has been Madison’s premier venue for concerts, meetings and other events for years, a new Dane County budget amendment will set aside $300,000 for a study of the venue is looking to help update the out-of-date facilities.
Robin Schmidt, Dane County Board supervisor for District 24, said she hopes the planned studies will provide valuable insight that will allow for a revitalization of the Alliant Energy Center.
“The study is intended to look at how can we make that facility more of an economic center and a gateway into the city of Madison and maximize earning potential of the facility itself,” Schmidt said.
Schmidt said the studies in total will cost $300,000, which will be split evenly between the facility improvements and maximizing profits. The budget will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2015.
Deb Archer, president and CEO of the Greater Madison Convention and Visitors Bureau, said the studies are also aimed at providing valuable market insight for the Alliant Energy Center in the future.
Archer said one of the most successful markets that the Alliant Energy Center caters to is concerts.
Though the Alliant Energy Center is one of Madison’s largest venues, the center itself is underutilized and not up to today’s standards in terms of energy efficiency, amenities and proper rigging for concerts, Schmidt said.
However, currently the venue does not have the proper loading docks that would make the set up for large scale concerts efficient.
The lack of these loading docks has been a hindrance to the venue, because if the Alliant Energy Center did have the docks, then more large-scale concerts would be able to come and make a profit, Schmidt said.
“We have some great partners with Frank Productions, who can bring larger concerts here, but we have to have a facility, if we are going to do that, that has the amenities so that they can come in, set up their show up the way they want it to be without having to deal with the more antiquated technology that they have now,” Schmidt said.
Looking ahead, market analysis and making enhancements or changes to the existing structure could lead to many new opportunities for the venue, Archer said.
Along with studies to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the Alliant Energy Center and market analysis, Schmidt said she hopes to get the people of the Madison community excited about the future of the center and the possibilities that the future will hold.
Currently the Alliant Energy Center is a “very awkward campus,” Schmidt said. There is no access to pedestrians or bikes, making the connection between the community and the center much more difficult.
The hope is to connect the Alliant Energy Center with the rest of Madison so that it is a hub for private-public partnerships, Schmidt said.
“I really feel like [the center] is a connection between city and county,” Schmidt said. “I think that is one of the things that that facility does; it brings the rural interface into a more urban area, and that’s really important for everyone to see how we’re connected.”
