HIPPODROME CROWD SHOTS

KID CUDI LAST OCTOBER

OLD TEEN NIGHT SHOT

White Elephant To Golden Goose

This article was originally posted in 2009 while the Hippodrome
was closed. I am reposting it now to serve as a reminder as to
how much of an impact this facility and Rain/Skyplex has had on the region.


The Paramount Theater was purchased in the summer of 1999. The Theater hadn't been opened for years, employed no one, and paid no taxes. We Made a huge investment, Saved a local landmark, employed over 150 people, and paid approximately $220,000 in back taxes to the city of Springfield. The Hippodrome opened in December of 2000 after a year of renovations.

We decided to look back over the last 9 years and see what the actual economic impact of our businesses has been for the City and the Region.

The first subject we researched was Police Details. We added up the amounts paid to the Springfield Police Department for Extra Duty Police at The Hippodrome and Rain/Skyplex. I think this makes us the largest private employer of extra duty police in the city. (Not including the gas and electric co.) Police Details $1,093,000 (Yes that is over 1 million dollars)

Next was the total amounts paid to the City of Springfield for Real Estate taxes, licensing, permits, and fees.
Total to City of Springfield for taxes,etc. $1,119,000
(over 1 million dollars again.)

Payroll wages are one of our largest expenses and all of our employees are local residents. This means that the wages we have paid go directly into the local economy.
Wages Paid (excluding owners) $5,600,000
(over 5.5 million)

We have employed plenty of local construction and repair people over the years. This includes, Painters, Plumbers, Carpenters, electricians, HVAC, etc.
Amount spent locally on construction, repairs, etc. $4,375,000

This is the total amount that Rain/Skyplex has directly spent into the local economy
$8,200,000

This is the total that The Hippodrome has directly pumped into the local economy
$15,252,000

Total for both spent directly into the local economy
$25,452,000

We tried to calculate the amount of money that our patrons (over 2 million people) have spent locally and what benefit it has had to the economy. This is a hard number to calculate, but we figure between, Hotel rooms (we know the number was over 500 room nights per year), Parking ( we know our patrons pay to park in local lots),Meal from local restaurants, Gas,Etc.
Benefit to local economy from customers visiting downtown
$20 to 40 Million dollars

Number of Patrons:
well over 2 million

Number of license violations in over 9 years:
0 (zero)

We were also responsible for booking all of the shows for the City Block Summer Concert Series at Stearns Sq. The Skyplex provides the Beer Concessions and bathrooms for the concert series along with the liability insurance for the shows. We didn't take the time to figure any of the economic benefit of our role in these shows, but from a public relations standpoint, this is the area's most anticipated yearly series of events and draws between 30 and 50 thousand people to Downtown Springfield every summer. I will be writing a post about this soon.

A Word About Bookings, Blogs, and Thanks

The Paramount finally re-opened in April. We are now booking shows and events daily. The dates are almost coming in too fast to keep track of. We are booking events from many sources, which promises a diverse mix of programing. The events that are being posted are only the events that are "On Sale", there are dozens more booked, but not yet announced. Even more dates are being held, waiting to be confirmed.
I will be announcing dates on this blog first, then on our website.


For the last few weeks it seems all I have been posting are ticket on sale dates for events, that is not the only function of this blog. I will be posting more "behind the scenes" info as time goes by and more shows take place.


I would appreciate any feedback from readers, Please feel free to email me with comments, reviews, ideas, opinions, etc, about the blog or Paramount Theater. The Email address attached to this blog is: Mikebar909@gmail.com


I would like to thank everyone for reading this blog and for your support and encouragement.

Young @ Heart Chorus Make Their Return To Springfield

The Young @ Heart Chorus returns to The Paramount on June 25th. The last time they were here was in 2004. If you have never seen them, do yourself a favor and check them out on youtube.
Of all the shows that we have hosted at The Hippodrome over the years, this show was one of the most memorable for me and an act that I highly recommend. (For any age group)
The text below comes from WGBY's website.


Western Massachusetts' own Young@Heart Chorus in concert to benefit WGBY, Public Television for western New England at the Paramount Theatre in Downtown Springfield


When Bob Cilman and Judith Sharpe organized the Young@Heart (Y@H) in 1982 all of the members lived in an elderly housing project in Northampton, MA called the Walter Salvo House. The first group included elders who lived through both World Wars.


The current performers in Young@Heart range in age from 73 to 89. There are some with prior professional theater or music experience, others who have performed extensively on the amateur level, and some who never stepped onto a stage before turning eighty. None of the current performers of Y@H were part of the original group that formed in 1982, but they have kept alive the spirit of the early pioneers and continue to push the group into glorious new directions.


Alive and Well, the Y@H in concert, features songs from past productions and also allows us to experiment with new music in front of a live audience.
This concert is made possible in part through support from Glenmeadow Retirement Home of Longmeadow, MA and The Republican/MassLive.


To purchase tickets click on the link below
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/105490

Hippodrome (Paramount's) First Week Back in Operation

Wednesday April 7th The Paramount hosted an evening of Boxing, featuring "The Massachusetts State Police Boxing Team". This was the first event at the Hippodrome since June 6th 2008.


The event was a benefit for The Springfield Girls Club. There were 10 fights and a good turnout.


Friday Night was a Latin concert featuring Tito El Bambino. The Night was a huge success. The Hippodrome, Over the last ten years, has been the best destination for Tropical Latin acts in The Northeast.


The next round of bookings will be announced soon and will include some Rock and Pop acts.

The Massachusetts State Police Benefit Boxing Match for The Springfield Girls Club Will Be an"Action Packed" First Show at The Paramount

The acts are starting to be booked for the first round of spring shows at The Paramount. We have already booked several shows for April, May, and June. Lots of acts will be announced shortly.

The first show will be on Wednesday April 7th and features a Massachusetts State Police Boxing card as a benefit for the Springfield Girls Club. The Hippodrome (Paramount) has hosted many Boxing matches and other events for The Springfield Girls Club over the last 10 years. We have had several fashion shows, Casino Nights, and Sporting events to raise money for this terrific organization. The last time we hosted a Boxing match for them was a sell out. Tickets are already on sale. I will post more ticket info as soon as I have it.

Friday April 9th The Paramount is hosting a concert featuring Tito El Bambino. This is a large scale Latin act and has always drawn a capacity crowd to The Hippodrome (Paramount). Doors open at 9pm and tickets will go on sale next week.

Saturday April 10th Mixed Marshal arts returns in the cage. These extreme fighting events always sell out. I will post details of who is fighting and ticketing next week.

These three events taking place over four nights will be a large shot in the arm for Downtown Restaurants and Eateries before and after the events.

Here is a link to The Springfield Girls Club Website.
http://springfieldgirlsclub.org/

The Springfield Intruder and a "behind the scenes" tour of the Theater.

I recently gave a tour of the Paramount to Bill Dusty of the Springfield Intruder. I thought that some people may find it interesting to see parts of the theater that the public never sees. Below is a link to the story that Bill wrote about the tour and a link to the video that he made.



http://springfieldintruder.com/?p=3169