Oswego trustees have decided to keep ticket prices the same as last year for concerts during the 2024 season at Venue 1012, the village’s community events center.
After a discussion as a committee of the whole April 16, trustees supported the idea of keeping the price at $15 for tickets purchased in advance and $20 for tickets bought at the door of shows at the facility at 1012 Station Drive in Oswego.
The village established a special event fund with the idea it would be self-supporting. However, event-related costs, mainly for entertainment and part-time, seasonal and overtime pay for workers associated with Venue 1012, have raised some issues.
Venue 1012’s first full season began in the summer of 2022 and the series there increased the number of village events. While the village’s event season produced a net profit of $10,000, it came mainly from the Wine on the Fox and Christmas Walk events, not concerts at Venue 1012.
The village-owned Venue event series operated at a loss of almost $22,000 that year, Oswego Assistant Village Administrator Jean Bueche said in a report to trustees.
The overall events program for 2023 produced a net profit of $16,000, mainly from Wine on the Fox and Christmas Walk. The Venue event series operated at a loss of approximately $10,000 last year.
Village staff members requested direction from the Village Board on whether to proceed with the current ticket prices and discuss prices for the 2025 season later this year. Another option was to lower ticket prices for Venue 1012.
Trustee Kit Kuhrt suggested the ticket prices for Venue 1012 be lowered to $10.
“If we lower ticket prices, we’ll get more people into the venue,” Kuhrt said.
Last year’s ticket prices were $15 for ages 13 and up. Staff was prepared to increase prices to $20 for advanced purchases and $25 at the door.
“The $25 seems high,” Trustee Tom Guist said.
However, $10 a ticket would be going “too low,” he said.
Staff members said they worked to book “higher-caliber bands” for the ticketed 2024 summer concert series. However, they do come at a higher cost. In 2023, the cost for musical entertainment at Venue 1012 was about $29,000 for four ticketed shows. This year, the cost of musical entertainment has almost doubled to $52,500 for four ticketed shows, according to the report given to trustees.
There are communities in the region with a stage similar to Oswego’s that offer free concerts. However, in most cases they operate at a loss because the purpose is to have a community place for people to gather, officials said.
Oswego’s goal has been for the entertainment venue to break even, Oswego Village Administrator Dan Di Santo told trustees.
“We can do free or reduced concerts, but know it is going to cost each year in the budget,” Di Santo said.
“Our goal has always been to break even,” he said. “We were $22,000 under two years ago and last year $10,000 under. We are getting close. While we have lost money in the Venue, our overall special events budget has been break even or in the black. On an annual basis, we are doing very well in special events, it’s just that the Venue hasn’t caught up.”
When the stage was originally built, the village was not going to manage the concerts there. The idea was to have a stage for the community to rent for non-profit and school performances, village officials said.
“We should use this year as another year to gather data to determine what’s working. We are getting better bands and spending more money. The change we make should be subtle until we get more data points,” Guist said.
“I think we need to lower prices a little bit and offer a bundle for two that may be enticing for couples,” he said. “We want to trend in the right direction so it can become a community center.
“We’re not going to fix it in one year,” Guist said.
Linda Girardi is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
