Save Century II activists want safeguards to prevent renaming the center for money
The Century II Convention and Performing Arts Center will be Century II for the foreseeable future, but City Hall and its recently approved private management company could seek to rename parts of the facility for those who are willing to pay.
City Manager Robert Layton said Tuesday that the city would be unlikely to get any bids for renaming the entire Century II, but there could be some opportunities to sell naming rights within the facility.
Layton gave that update in response to questions raised by supporters of the Save Century II movement at Tuesday’s council meeting and in a teleconference meeting two weeks ago with city officials and officials of ASM Global, which will take over the management of the now publicly run center in January.
“There wouldn’t even be a market today for the naming rights for the exterior of the building,” Layton said. “I do think there was an agreement during the call that looking for naming opportunities inside the building made some sense. I don’t believe that was the concern. I believe the concern expressed was the building itself and at this point there are no discussions about it, nothing’s anticipated.”
Former Sedgwick County Commissioner Karl Peterjohn, who spoke to the renaming issue at Tuesday’s council meeting, confirmed that the group is not especially worried about putting corporate branding on rooms within the building.
But he and others said Save Century II would like an amendment to the contract with ASM, which also manages the Sedgwick County-owned Intrust Bank Arena, to ensure that it stays Century II.
The contract does open the possibility of renaming either the entire facility or parts of it.
If ASM identifies a name sponsor and the city approves, the city would get the revenue, minus a commission to ASM of as much as 15%, the contract says.
Three of the five major indoor spaces at Century II already have names attached, though none are paid sponsorships.
The Mary Jane Teall Theater, the smallest of the three auditoriums in the 1969-built roundhouse performing arts center, is named for a founder and longtime artistic director of Wichita Community Theater.
The Bob Brown Expo Hall , a large rectangular space that was added onto the original Century II for more convention space, was built in 1986. It’s named after a former mayor and city commissioner.
The Carl A. Bell Jr. Convention Hall, the second-largest space in Century II, is also named for a former mayor and city commissioner.
The Exhibition Hall, at 3,600 seating capacity, and concert hall, 2,195 seats, aren’t named for anyone and could be candidates for paid name sponsorships without having to strip someone’s name off of something.
This story was originally published November 16, 2021 at 12:05 PM.
