La Crosse Center Board Meeting Highlights Financial Challenges and Black History Month Event - February 17, 2026
La Crosse Center Board Meeting Highlights Financial Challenges and Black History Month Event - February 17, 2026
On February 17, 2026, the La Crosse Center Board convened to discuss operational finances, room tax allocation, deferred maintenance, and upcoming events. The board approved routine items and heard a detailed presentation from center staff on revenue challenges, fixed costs, pricing strategies, and a request for future subsidy consideration.
Consent Calendar
- Approved minutes from the previous meeting by unanimous voice vote (motion by Barbara, second by Dave).
- Approved the liquor expense report by unanimous voice vote (motion by Barb, second by Scott).
Discussion Items
- Black History Month Event (February 28, 2026): Staff announced a free community event at the La Crosse Center, featuring RB Live (a Milwaukee band), soul food catering by Press Break, and educational displays from UWL’s African American studies department and La Crosse Public Library (highlighting local Black history). The event will also honor Swayvo Twain, son of the late Angie Stone and D’Angelo, on his birthday. Over 400 people have registered. A partnership with WXOW Channel 19 will provide media coverage.
- Room Tax Allocation History: Jared Flick presented data showing that the center’s share of room tax dropped from 35% (approximately $878,000 in 2017 and $939,000 in 2018) to 13.3% (approximately $518,000 in 2023) following a 2019 city ordinance that increased the overall room tax from 8% to 9.5% but reallocated less to the center. The center’s allocation has remained near $500,000 annually through 2025.
- Operational Financial Challenges: Jay (center director) reported fixed annual costs of $657,500 before any events: $435,000 in utilities, $110,000 for a Johnson Controls contract, and $112,000 in property/liability insurance. Despite revenue exceeding $7 million in 2025, expenses are rising at a similar pace. The center’s rainy day fund, built from a ~$2 million Shuttered Venue Grant, is nearly exhausted.
- Johnson Controls Contract: Josh and Matt highlighted that the center pays $110,000/year for solar panel and LED lighting upgrades, but solar savings only amounted to ~$124,000 in total over 5+ years (~$50,000 in 2025). Board members criticized the contract as a poor investment and suggested exploring early termination or intergovernmental cooperation with La Crosse County.
- Food and Beverage Pricing: Jay Breyer explained pricing strategies, noting that despite national cost increases (8% for goods, 4% for labor), the center faces 18% and 25% increases respectively. Sponsorships with local vendors (e.g., Festival Foods, Gillette Pepsi) helped boost sales: bratwurst sales doubled to 3,804 units in 2025, and branded water sales rose 12% to 33,450 units.
- Community and Internal Events: Elizabeth highlighted free community programs hosted at the center, including the Back to School program (serving 937 kids in 2023), Thanksgiving dinner (3,100 meals in 2025), and training for police/fire departments. The center does not charge city departments for use of space.
- Staffing and Future Plans: Jay noted the center has added staff but remains below industry standards. He recommended that the city establish a subsidy or carryover reserve fund for 2026–2028 to provide a financial cushion, similar to the Shuttered Venue Grant. He plans to bring a resolution to the Common Council.
Key Outcomes
- Approved minutes and liquor expenses.
- Board members and visiting councilors raised concerns about the Johnson Controls contract and urged renegotiation or termination.
- The board requested Jared Flick to compile comparative data on room tax allocations and subsidies for competing venues (e.g., Monona Terrace, Rush Center) for future presentations.
- Jay confirmed he will present a formal request for a subsidy/reserve fund to the Common Council in the near future.
- The meeting adjourned with no further votes or formal decisions on the financial proposals.
Meeting Transcript
We'll take a look at first at the uh minutes from the last meeting. They're move motion to approve that. Move to approve. Barbara Dave. Discussion all in favor. Opposed. Anything that you've got, uh, Jared announcements. Jay. Somebody's pointing it. Oh, this is good. All right. Um, so I'm sorry. Sorry. Can you all hear me? Yeah. Okay. Thank you. Uh, I believe I'm supposed to discuss. We are having a Black History Month event this year at the La Crosse Center on February 28th. Um, we're sort of, well, not sort of we're really excited about this event. Uh, this is something that we wanted to start so it could be an inaugural event that takes place every year that we could look forward to. Something that definitely brings the community together and celebrate using uh music, African American music has a strong history in his culture, as I'm sure everyone is aware of. Uh everything from jazz to rock and roll to RB to soul music to hip hop to rap. So we thought that it would be a great event to bring out. I have a connection with a few people in the music industry, and we're bringing in RB Live. It's from Milwaukee. So it's it's a live band, an amazing band that has several uh musicians that play for some of the biggest names in the industry and some of the the biggest and best voices in the industry. So we'll be bringing them in for that evening. We'll also have an educational component. We've reached out with uh the help of the lacrosse center, and I don't want to overlook Jay, Jared, Courtney, and Megan. They have been extremely helpful um and supportive with this entire process. But we uh we will be partnering with Press Break, and they will do the catering. So we're gonna get some. I don't know if any of you have ever had it, or if you haven't, we're gonna get some traditional, original, good old-fashioned soul food. Um, I'm looking forward to that. Also, we were able to make this a free event. So we are also working with sponsors that can help offset some of the costs. Uh at the last minute, I was able to arrange. I don't know if you all are familiar with who Angie Stone and D'Angelo are, but they are huge names in the RB and Neo Soul genre. Um, they would be equivalent to a Steven Tyler. And both of them unfortunately passed away last year within 12 within nine months of each other. And they had a son, the two of them. And I worked very closely with Angie. She was a personal friend of mine, and I helped manage their son, so I was able to get him to come up here for that performance. And the thing that's significant about that is the 28th is his birthday. His name is Swayvo Twain. The 28th is his birthday. And the 28th is a year anniversary from when his mother had her untimely passing death uh in an automobile accident. And the RB and the music world lost a legend, a true legend. And I was just I was fortunate enough to be at the Grammys a couple weeks ago.
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