Related Story: May 2011: “Events can improve fortunes of Erie Street Market”

After years of trial and error, the City of Toledo is — at least for now — forfeiting its foray into the entertainment and event venue market.

The Erie Street Market will no longer book events. Overhead costs of heating and lighting the spacious bays within the strip overcame the profit generated by event scheduling, said Jen Sorgenfrei, spokesperson for the mayor’s office.

She could not say yet exactly how much overhead costs totaled for 2011. In 2010, the city spent $359,778 to operate the facility.

“They’ve tried several different formulas; different administrations’ leadership has taken different approaches,” Sorgenfrei said. “Nothing has quite fit.”

The city sent a letter to at least 10 clients to cancel scheduled events, she said. The letters, authored by deputy mayor Thomas Crothers, expresses that the city would refund money already spent by the client. Kris Berger Long, the city’s booking agent for Erie Street Market, will assist clients in a number of other venues, the letter states.

Within the last year, contractor Kris Berger Long has booked a lot of successful events and this decision is by no means reflective of Berger Long’s quality of work, Sorgenfrei said. Berger Long could not be reached for comment.

Sorgenfrei said the building would probably be more efficiently run by a private business rather than the city, but that no concrete future plans for the Erie Street building have been made.

The Libbey Glass Outlet is the only business still housed inside the facility and its lease expires in September. No decisions have been made to whether the company will renew the lease, Sorgenfrei said.

Tags: City of Toledo, Erie Street Market, Kris Berger Long, Libbey Glass Outlet

This entry was posted on Monday, February 6th, 2012 at 6:08 pm and is filed under City of Toledo, Community.
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