CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Officials with the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center are joining forces with thousands of venue and facility leaders in the United States to urge Congress on helping the industry financially amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The downtown Charleston facility, one of the largest entertainment venues in West Virginia, will be lit up red from 9 p.m. to midnight on Tuesday as part of a “Red Alert We Make Events” movement to help the live entertainment industry.
“We are going to join in with 1,600 venues throughout North America and lighting our venues up red. The reason for this is the legislative push for the RESTART Act. It has stalled out,” Jim Smith, the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center (CCCC) Assistant Director told MetroNews.
The facility, which underwent a more than $100 million renovation in 2018, hasn’t hosted a live entertainment event since early March. The pandemic and cancellations of events began in the middle of the girls’ high school basketball state tournament at the CCCC.
Smith estimated the facility is currently looking at a $1.8 million loss in revenue throughout the pandemic and an estimated $5.5 million to $10 million impact on the local economy, calling the impact “devastating.”
The RESTART Act that facilities are pushing for extends the Paycheck Protection Program and establishes to support small businesses in response to COVID-19 for certain businesses, and it establishes a loan program whereby the Small Business Administration shall guarantee loan amounts to certain businesses affected by COVID-19, according to the bill text.
The Congress bill page further stated the bill, which has only been introduced, provides a paycheck protection loan recipient with 16 weeks to use such funds if the recipient has (1) less than 500 full-time employees, and (2) suffered a decline in revenues of at least 25%.
“Those small businesses that easily reap the benefits of economic impact have been taken care of but there has been nothing slated for event facilities much like ours,” Smith said.
The CCCC tweeted out this message to its followers on Tuesday about the event and need for help:
We miss seeing you all here. Help us save live events – check out https://t.co/73Crcad26u for an easy form that contacts YOUR members of Congress and urges them to pass the RESTART Act and extend PUA and FPUC.
We need YOUR help to bring back LIVE ENTERTAINMENT.#WeMakeEvents pic.twitter.com/ReYeMM7CDk
— Charleston Coliseum & Convention Center (@CCCWVA) September 1, 2020
Smith estimated it may not be until March 2021 before any type of live entertainment happens at the facility. He said it’s going to be 2022 for the prosperity to catch back up. The facility is currently open to host small events such as business meetings and weddings.