Good luck Bemidji

Hopefully they don't have the same problems with VenuWorks that Burnsville has had.

The decision between the two firms that are proposed to manage the Bemidji Regional Event Center came down to personality.

VenuWorks is now the city’s preferred choice to manage the BREC. The Bemidji City Council on Monday voted 6-1, with Councilor Barb Meuers opposed, to begin negotiating with VenuWorks.

There are a few pieces in this story that should make Burnsville residents scratch their heads:

The Burnsville Performing Arts Center, according to a July article in the Pioneer Press, lost almost $280,000 in its first four months of operations.

The Burnsville City Council had commissioned a study in 2006 that estimated the center would, in a worst-case scenario, run at an annual shortfall of $300,000 for the first five years, the Pioneer Press reported.

Hellquist said VenuWorks and the general manager candidates – one of whom was the Burnsville general manager – did address the Burnsville situation.

Their explanation, Hellquist said, was that it was a combination of the facility’s structure, funding and how it was run that all contributed to the center’s current situation.

So, our PAC's general manager is applying for the Bemidji job and the big problem with the Burnsville Performing Arts Center is its structure (no idea what that's supposed to mean), funding (it's been built and we're paying for VenuWorks...what else is needed?) and how it's run (um, isn't VenuWorks running it?).

Sounds to me like VenuWorks is blaming the City of Burnsville for the problems they're having running the place. Does the city know that?

Seems to me that there's plenty of blame to go around here...