As the Peoria Civic Center boasts the two best fiscal years in nearly two decades, general manager Rik Edgar acknowledges some challenges lie ahead.

Edgar presented the downtown entertainment venue’s annual report during a special City Council meeting, outlining some of the best financial results since a 2007 renovation.

“We did $7.3 million in adjusted gross income, that is a new venue record,” Edgar said. “Last year, we did $6.9 (million) and before that, we’d never had a year above $6.2 million. For two years in a row now, we have done over $13 million in ticket sales.”

The report highlighted the Civic Center hosting 147 ticketed events over 401 event dates, generating more than $1.2 million in local and state tax revenue — a figure that’s more than doubled since 2018. Edgar noted the complex saw an 8% increase in guests in the last fiscal year — coming within nearly 10,000 of a half-million.

“Folks are coming from out of town, as well as in town, spending money, and we’re watching our events go up,” said Edgar, adding they set their record with $3.8 million in concessions revenue and the convention center saw a 9% increase in income for its best year in more than two decades.

However, Edgar pointed to upcoming hurdles, primarily related to increased expenses. He said they’re anticipating a sharp rise in labor costs because of wage increases going into effect at the start of next year.

“These are going to hit the industry of events probably harder than most,” he said. “If the mandated wage increases that we’re anticipating come into place on Jan. 1, our payroll is going to go up 23%. So that impacts our ability to keep rates low, and all the things that go with that.”

Edgar said the venue is also dealing with higher utility costs and a 20% spike in insurance rates.

“One thing I did want to point out is we just, with all the renovations, we did get best in class (rating), which means we’re the best that you can be to get insured in the entertainment industry,” he said. “Had we not done the renovations, I can tell you that we were told we were uninsurable.”

The report shows annual revenue from Carver Arena increased 216% over a 10-year average. Additionally, while arena tenants such as Bradley University men’s basketball and Peoria Rivermen pro hockey, account for 68% of the event dates, touring shows generate 66% of the income.

Edgar noted both teams are pleased and excited about the arena’s facility upgrades, highlighted by the giant new scoreboard, ribbon boards and sound system.

“Bradley in particular, when Bradley had come to us, they wanted to be the marquee team in the Missouri Valley Conference and our facility made it a little challenging to recruit, perhaps,” Edgar said. “So now they have not a venue in the Missouri Valley, they’ve got the best venue, and they were just selected to be the top team in the league.”

Edgar admitted another concern they’re working to address is perception of nighttime safety issues in the vicinity of the Civic Center.

“We had one event that had been coming to us for years in the convention center, and they said that they felt uncomfortable around the building at night. So we’re taking that seriously,” he said. “We’re making some strides within the venue to make it feel a little more, not so much isolated, but just a safer environment. So we do have parking attendants, we do things of that nature.

“But I think it’s a bigger issue than just the Civic Center: What are we going to do in the downtown to make folks feel at 9:30-10 o’clock at night when it’s dark, they’re walking down the streets and feel good? By the way, this is a problem in every city in America, so this is not a Peoria issue.”

Edgar said the ability to offer a diverse assortment of acts and events as a way to maximize appeal is critical to the Civic Center’s success.

“We try to do a little something for everyone. Our audience tells us what they want to see; it’s a very capitalistic society,” he said. “They buy tickets when they’re engaged, they come to events, and that’s how we know if it’s working.

“We also have to avoid tunnel vision. If we stay focused on just doing one thing, well, we’re going to fail. We have to generally broaden our audience to have great success.”