Updated 12:16 AM Tuesday, March 23, 2010
MIDDLETOWN — No mathematician would argue this point. Would you risk losing $2.3 million in economic impact for a $550 check?
That should be the discussion Middletown officials face when an organization considers using the city’s showmobile, a portable stage.
Last weekend, the Middletown Spring Blast — a soccer tournament that attracted 262 teams from six states — pumped $2.36 million into the local economy, said Kathy Stites, tournament director and co-manager at Kingdom Sports in Franklin.
Youth soccer teams traveled from Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan, West Virginia and Pennsylvania and they played at Smith Park and Jacot Park in Middletown and Franklin Community Park.
If you tried to make hotel reservations or eat at a local restaurant Friday, Saturday or Sunday, you can attest to the number of soccer players, coaches and parents in town.
For one weekend, Middletown was alive with activity.
So what’s the problem?
Stites used the city’s showmobile for Sunday’s trophy presentations — “the kids love it,” she said — and paid a $500 deposit and a $550 rental fee to cover the overtime cost of city employees to transport and set up the stage.
“Outrageous” is how she described the fees. She is too nice.
The soccer tournament also paid $40 an hour for Middletown police officers to direct traffic at the Smith Park entrance, and a refundable $350 deposit for barricades.
About 15 years ago, the cost of the showmobile was shared by the city and the Middletown Community Foundation, said Duane Gordon, executive director. For years, he said, users were charged $400, which covered the set-up cost and possible repairs.
Then, two years ago, the city increased the rental to $1,000, but after further discussion, it was lowered to $550, Gordon said.
The $1,000, he said, was “a little too high” even considering inflation.
Gordon called the showmobile “a complicated piece of equipment” that, because of liability issues, must be handled by trained city employees.
Dave Duritsch, Middletown public works director, said the city loses money when it rents the showmobile. The city is considering a higher fee structure that allows it to recoup some of the cost, he said.
Ann Mort, former president of the Convention and Visitors Bureau, has heard similar complaints from other organizations. She said Stites “makes a good point.”
Mort has contacted local groups and trucking companies about hauling and setting up the showmobile in hopes of making it more affordable to rent.
She knows groups don’t have the extra money budgeted. “I’m sure that has cost us some events,” she said.
Somewhere, a mathematician is scratching her head.
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