Eau Claire, Wisconsin is seeking to invest in a new multi-use event center to address the aging and inadequate existing facilities. The proposed center would include a 6,000 seat arena, arts center with three performance venues, community recreation center, and over 100,000 square feet of convention space. It would serve the growing community and help attract larger events. Public-private partnerships will be pursued to fund the development through revenue-generating amenities while meeting community needs.

1. A VISIONARY INVESTMENT
The Eau Claire Multi-Use Event Center
Eau Claire, Wisconsin: On the Threshold of Change
One of Wisconsin’s most vibrant and economically stable communities, Eau Claire stands at
a threshold of change. A community of more than 65,000 people, it has grown steadily by
more than 45% over the last four decades, with more than 110,000 projected to call Eau
Claire County home by 2025. Eau Claire is Northwest Wisconsin's largest metropolitan
area, a destination retail, cultural and entertainment hub for more than 463,000 people in the
region.
The region’s economic stability is supported by a diverse economic base that includes such
growth sectors as education (the University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire, Stout and River
Falls, and the Chippewa Valley Technical College), healthcare (Luther Midelfort-Mayo
Health System, Sacred Heart Hospital and the Marshfield Clinic), technology (Hutchinson
Technology Inc.) and corporate headquarters (Menards). Employers find an educated
workforce, a safe, family-friendly community, and low cost of living. In 2007, Eau Claire
was named one of the safest communities in the state, and the second-safest in the United
States.
Eau Claire’s high quality of life—nine out of 10 residents rate it good or excellent—is the
result, in part, of its commitment to growth and physical development. Comprehensive
planning has been a hallmark of the City’s efforts over the past five decades. More recently,
the 2005 comprehensive plan, which guides the city in its land use and development efforts
through 2025, outlines core commitments to preserving the region’s quality of life,
transforming the local economy and empowering individuals.
As a result, the city has seen the redevelopment of its downtown with the addition of
Phoenix Park and the Farmer’s Market on the Chippewa River, the new RCU Office
Building anchoring the Park development, new housing and commercial development along
Barstow in the downtown area, and seven new community-focused events that include the
popular Taste of Eau Claire and the International Fall Festival. Urban development has been
supported by mass transit improvements that have encouraged more than a million riders to
use the bus system annually.
In addition to urban redevelopment, Eau Claire is blessed with a wide range of recreational
resources, anchored by its two scenic rivers—the Chippewa and the Eau Claire—which
enhance its downtown and shape its parkland. Eau Claire ranks second in the state among
peer communities with more than 1,500 acres of park and open space land, a 52,000-acre
managed county forest, 27 miles of trails and such unique facilities as cross-country skiing
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2. at Tower Ridge, mountain biking at Lowes Creek County Park and the observatory and
Science Center at Beaver Creek Reserve.
Over the past two years, the Eau Claire community has come together as never before to
intentionally shape its future and to build on its rich heritage. More than 200 citizens
participated in a comprehensive community visioning process —Clear Vision Eau Claire—
facilitated by the National Civic League. The result was a vision that encompasses six goals,
including a commitment to enhancing the area’s quality of life by “improving the
infrastructure that supports a vibrant arts, culture and recreational scene in Eau Claire
County.”
Supported by broad community consensus, this commitment has coalesced around the need
for a new, multi-use events facility or facilities that will address long-standing demand for
public event, performance, educational and recreational space. These facilities are the focus
of this white paper.
A Confluence of Demand, Need and Opportunity
Eau Claire’s long history of community engagement and partnerships is the foundation for
renewed efforts to meet the need for enhanced event facilities. Civic leadership has come
together as never before, forming coalitions of private and public partners eager and ready to
work together—despite the current economic challenges—to improve the city and region.
Leaders from the city, county, arts community, university, business, hospitality and tourism,
non-profits and healthcare are united in the recognition that our economic and civic vitality
requires a visionary, and creative, investment in our future.
The community’s readiness to partner on a multi-use event center arises from longstanding
need, demonstrated by an analysis of Eau Claire’s current public facilities. Across the board
they are aging, woefully inadequate, or both.
Community Arena Comparison
Aging and Inadequate Facilities
• The area’s largest event facility—the 3,500-seat Eau Claire 3,500 seats
Zorn Arena—was built in 1951 when UW-Eau Dubuque, IA 4,800
Claire had 750 students. The University currently La Crosse, WI 8,000
enrolls nearly 11,000 students. The Arena is Duluth, MN 7,700
Mankato, MN 8,200
configured to support sporting events, but lacks
Green Bay, WI 10,200
the staging, lighting and sound support to Moline, IL 12,000
facilitate diverse programming or to serve the Des Moines, IA 17,000 &
needs of the growing student body. 7,200
Eau Claire Area Convention and Visitors
Bureau, 2007
• The State Theatre, home to the Eau Claire
Regional Arts Center, was built in 1926 and is in
such condition that the facility must either undergo major renovations or be replaced.
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3. A 2006 Facility Analysis revealed “significant facility issues,” including aging
building and HVAC systems that need complete replacement, fire and life safety
protection problems, inadequate restrooms, critical stage loading limitations and a
general high level of deferred maintenance throughout the facility. The analysis
identified 25 critical facility needs, including a three-story elevator, sound proofing,
heating system upgrades and expanded lobby and reception space.
Recommendations for change to the Regional Arts Center include options ranging
from a $7 million renovation of existing space to achieve code compliance to a $20
million replacement facility that will provide expanded seating, rehearsal space, and
visual and performing arts classrooms.
• Eau Claire currently does not have facilities for smaller, intimate performances for
200 or 500 patrons. In addition, gallery and studio space is at a premium. Such
facilities would expand opportunities for a greater range of cultural offerings and
provide options for nonprofit groups who cannot afford or choose not to use the
Regional Arts Center facilities.
• Despite UW-Eau Claire’s prominence as home to the largest music program in the
state, its university performing arts venues are now almost 40 years old and are not
configured to meet modern theatrical staging and audience needs. Venue size,
seating and backstage capacity, including lighting and sound, ill serve both the
educational needs of the UW-Eau Claire students and the performance demands for a
diverse range of community events.
• Eau Claire’s largest meeting facilities—the Plaza Hotel at 28,000 square feet, and
the Ramada at 22,000—are significantly smaller and more outdated than those
available in comparable cities such as La Crosse, with 100,000 square feet in
meeting and exhibition space available, Green Bay, at 50,000 square feet, and
Stevens Point with 43,000 square feet. The lack of large-scale meeting and exhibit
space severely hampers Eau Claire’s ability to compete for special events,
conventions and large meetings for any group larger than 600. Lack of convention
space contributes to reduced hotel occupancy rates as well.
Meeting Space by Community
Largest Meeting/
Community Exhibit Space Total in Facility Name
Stevens Point 55,000 Sq. Ft. 106,000 Sq. Ft. Sentry World Golf Course
Green Bay 43,680 Sq. Ft. 43,680 Sq. Ft. Shopko Hall: Expo Center
LaCrosse 40,000 Sq. Ft. 100,000 Sq. Ft. LaCrosse Center: Arena + North Hall
Oshkosh Convention Center: Exhibit
Oshkosh 15,400 Sq. Ft. 18,500 Sq. Ft.
Hall
Fox Cities 15,000 Sq. Ft. 36,000 Sq. Ft. Radison: Grand Ballroom
Chippewa Valley 7,344 Sq. Ft. 34,265 Sq. Ft. Ramada Convention Center: Great Hall
Wausau 7,000 Sq. Ft. 23,000 Sq. Ft. Plaza Hotel: Garden Atrium
Wisconsin Rapids 4,050 Sq. Ft. 14,000 Sq. Ft. Hotel Mead: Grand Ballroom
Eau Claire Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, 2009
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4. • While the region does have a mix of meeting spaces, they are not centrally located
and serve primarily small events of less than 250 people. Such facilities are located
at the Beaver Creek Reserve, Action City and Florian Gardens in Eau Claire,
White’s Wildwood Retreat in Chippewa Falls and St. Mary’s Community Center in
Altoona. Area conference hotels include the Plaza Conference Center, the Holiday
Inn Campus Area, the Ramada Conference Center and the Quality Inn. The Eau
Claire County Exposition Center, while providing multi-use facilities on a larger
scale, is available only from April through October due to weather limitations.
• The YMCA, the traditional provider of community recreational facilities, currently
occupies buildings that are almost 50 years old, are not ADA compliant and require
users and children to cross a busy street to access facilities. There are major
mechanical and HVAC deficiencies. Much of the space, including that used for
daycare and before- and after-school programming was designed for other purposes.
The current 77,000 square feet is too small for services provided and parking is
inadequate.
The Vision: An Urban Multi-use Event Center
With community consensus on the need for improved multi-use facilities and with strong
demand from stakeholders for convention, event and cultural programming space, Eau
Claire has a unique opportunity to advance its vision and meet priority needs. The
community has identified a multi-use event center as its foremost investment priority.
Center Parameters
The multi-use event complex may be a single facility, a series of connected facilities, or two
or more facilities at separate locations. The final configuration will include:
• Major Events Facility
The multi-use complex should provide facilities that can seat up to 6,000 people
for concert or sporting events. It should provide flexible configurations for a
range of events and staging facilities to adequately meet stage, sound and
lighting demands.
• Arts Center
The complex will become the performance home for the current Eau Claire
Regional Arts Center tenants and for the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire
music and theater programs. It will include three performance venues, with
seating for 200, 500 and 1,000. Rehearsal, studio and instruction space, in
addition to administrative offices will be needed. The arts center should also
provide space for an art gallery and studios.
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5. • Community and Recreation Center
The complex will offer 120,000-130,000 square feet of mixed recreational
facilities, designed for three full-sized basketball courts, an aquatic center with
two pools—a lap pool and family pool)—and a gymnastics center. In addition,
the community center will offer facilities for daycare and teen care, as well as
office and meeting spaces for YMCA staff and non-profit organizations.
• Convention Space
The facility will enable Eau Claire to compete with our peer communities in
Wisconsin and nearby Minnesota in attracting conventions and events that host
3,000 people or more. Convention space should provide a minimum of 100,000
square feet of meeting space with an additional 20,000 square feet of break-out
meeting rooms. Considerations for siting the convention space should take into
account existing hotel/motel resources and the potential to develop additional
hotels.
Site Options and Parameters
The city offers a range of attractive options for a multi-use event complex. Eau Claire is
committed to working closely with development partners to access the site and support
development. Attached to this overview is a detailed map identifying the range of location
options available.
While a range of potential sites is available, the final selection will meet both the scope of
the multi-use complex as outlined above and the following criteria. The complex must:
• Be located in the urban core to enhance city development and to accommodate UW-
Eau Claire students
• Provide convenient access to mass transit, current transportation routes, and walking
and biking trails
• Be located in proximity to area hotels to take advantage of existing lodging
resources
• Use riverfront locations to advantage to enhance our recreational heritage and reflect
sustainable building practices and standards
• Deliver economies of scale
• Address the economic impact of relocated services
Funding Models & Revenue Opportunities
Eau Claire is ready to partner creatively to support a multi-use event complex. The fiscal
reality, however, is that reduced state shared-revenue support for communities has doubled
the tax burden on local property taxpayers over the past decade. State funding for
municipalities has decreased from 50% in 1995 to 25% today, with a corresponding increase
in local property taxes. Property-tax funding for an infrastructure investment of this
magnitude is not realistic.
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6. Nevertheless, in the absence of tax-based funding, Eau Claire actively seeks public-private
partnerships that will meet both economic development and facilities expansion goals. Such
partnerships will take advantage of a creative mix of private and philanthropic dollars as
well as a combination of local, county, state and federal funding opportunities. Potential
collaboration with the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and other civic agencies are
encouraged.
Collaborative arrangements could include shared development or long-term leasing of onsite
apartments, condos and/or student housing or retirement housing. Apartment or residence
facilities near to campus and in close proximity to a multi-use center would be attractive to
students, young professionals as well as senior citizens. In addition, the University’s long-
term strategic plan calls for expanding its continuing education and professional
programming. Current facilities for continuing education are inadequate and the University
is interested in developing facilities that will provide classroom, meeting space and offices.
Other tenants, such as the YMCA, local healthcare clinics and wellness centers could
provide opportunities for the complex to include walk-in centers and community service
facilities with extended hours.
It is expected that development partnerships for the multi-use complex will include such
revenue-generating amenities as retail outlets, restaurants, entertainment venues, such as
movie theaters, and hotels.
An Investment in the Future
Eau Claire’s multi-use event complex holds promise to become both a destination as well as
an urban center for round-the-clock activities that serve full-time residents as well as
visitors. With demand, location and willing partners aligned, the arts and entertainment
complex is truly an exceptional opportunity to invest in Eau Claire’s future.
Sources
• The City of Eau Claire Comprehensive Plan. 2005. www.eauclairewi.gov
• Clear Vision Eau Claire: The Community Visioning and Strategic Planning Process Special Report, July 30,
2008. www.clearvisioneauclaire.org
• Clear Vision Trends and Conditions of the Eau Claire Area, 2008. www.clearvisioneauclaire.org
• Eau Claire Area Economic Development Corporation, Area Economic Profile, 2009. www.eauclaire-wi.com
• Eau Claire Regional Arts Council Inc., Facility Analysis Synopsis, April 24, 2006.
• Eau Claire Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, Similar Markets Research, internal report, 2007.
• Eau Claire Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, Current Meeting Space by Community, internal report, 2007.
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