Grand Forks' Alerus Center is seeking to partner up with Canad Inns to bring additional entertainment events to the center, the Events Center Commission said Wednesday.
This could mean everything from concerts in the 1,000-attendee range to dinner theater Canad is known for in its Manitoba home market. Down the road, if the partnership works out, commissioners hope, local hotels, represented by the Convention and Visitors Bureau, could be persuaded to join the marketing effort.
Commissioner Curt Kreun said the 1,000-attendee mark is important because, according to Canad's understanding, that's the threshold for a concert to begin having an impact on the local economy.
It's not clear what shape the partnership will take. Commissioners have simply directed Alerus Center staff to begin talking with their counterparts at Canad.
The two organizations, Kreun said, have to be "joined at the hip." He said he wouldn't want customers of one to have to call the other separately to organize one event, so both have to know what the other is doing.
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The relationship between the two entities has, at times, been rough at the edges with some Alerus Center staff complaining about the lack of response from the other side.
Kreun acknowledged that there'd been communication problems but attributed that to Canad staff being busy trying to get the $50 million entertainment complex up and running.
Ideally, what he'd like to see is for the Alerus Center, Canad and other area hotels to offer a single all-included entertainment package, where the cost of the event and a discounted night or two's stay are tied together.
Canad, he said, has a good track record of doing that in Manitoba, where it has worked with dozens of hotels. The company, he said, sets up tours at its hotels and spreads the wealth of overnight guests to others.
Tran reports on City Hall. Reach him at (701) 780-1248 or ttran@gfherald.com or see his blog at www.areavoices.com/gfhcitybeat .
