Covelli, Packard likely to stay closed under Ohio pandemic restrictions, operators said

YOUNGSTOWN — It makes no economic sense to reopen the Covelli Centre for only 300 people, said Eric Ryan, president of JAC Management Group, which operates the 169,000-square-foot facility.

For a concert, the Covelli is able to seat between 6,000 and 7,000 people. But under new requirements for reopening performing arts venues released last week by Gov. Mike DeWine's administration, indoor venue capacity would be restricted to 15 percent of the venue's maximum capacity, or 300 people, whichever is lower.

"Although it was nice for the governor to finally address our industry after five months … it's really a nonstarter," Ryan said. "Those restrictions make it impossible for the bigger venues to operate. The economics don't work financially."

Venue operators are hopeful DeWine will provide further guidance during his state coronavirus updates this week scheduled for today and Thursday at 2 p.m.

As it stands, Ryan said he doesn't foresee a reopening of the Covelli Centre — where the Youngstown Phantoms hockey team plays about 30 games a year — or JAC-operated Packard Music Hall in Warren, which can seat more than 2,200 in the theater and nearly 1,300 in the balcony.

"We believe we will be able to open the [Youngstown Foundation Amphitheatre], which we have been pushing to do the last several months," he said.

Such restrictive capacity limits would mean "giant" ticket prices for national acts, just to cover their expensive production costs, said Matt Pagac, CEO of Stambaugh Auditorium, which is also bound to the 300-seat limit.

Social distancing requirements for on-stage performers also mean full-sized symphony orchestras are also out. Some wind instruments require 10 to 12 feet of social distancing, he said.

"It doesn't mean the concert hall remains dark. We could still do some things. We're not going to be able to do things huge and substantial," Pagac said.

Producers are still looking forward to smaller events like piano recitals or ensemble performances. They're also getting creative with repackaging Stambaugh's larger annual events for the COVID era, such as the fall's silent film feature, which usually draws about 1,500. Pagac said while this year's showing would have a small live audience, it would also be livestreamed.

About 1,000 people attend Opera Western Reserve's annual fall production. But with onstage performers and a full orchestra in the pit beneath the stage, "there's no way to make that work" this year, Pagac said. "Opera singing is a huge issue with COVID."

Without a live audience, this year's production of "La Traviata" will instead be performed and edited like a feature film for an online stream. Scenes will be filmed in different parts of the Stambaugh building. A smaller orchestra and singers will record their performances separately. One major reason the new format will work is the show's leads are husband and wife — so they can perform together without masks, Pagac said.

"We're grateful to be able to do anything," he said. "Having some ability to do something in the concert hall is better than the absolute 'no' we've been getting.

"We will follow whatever the protocol is — however it changes, we will continue to follow it."

Performing arts and entertainment is a $41 billion industry in Ohio that employs about 300,000 people, Ryan said. But the state's larger venues — like Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, which can seat 19,000 but now falls under the 300-seat requirement — are too outsized for the state's guidelines, he said.

"We need to get back to business. There's a lot of venues across the country that are not gonna make it, and across the State of Ohio," he said. "We believe we can do it safely at a much higher capacity than 15 percent or 300."

The City of Youngstown has been using admissions tax revenue and other profits from the Covelli Centre to pay principal on the building's debt service, now at $6.46 million, down from $11.7 million, said city Finance Director Kyle Miasek. It's rolled the note from year to year, he said.

But the prospect of the Covelli Centre remaining closed isn't so alarming for the current calendar year, Miasek said.

Businesses headquartered at Covelli Enterprises were approved for federal Paycheck Protection Program loans totaling between $30.3 million and $65.4 million, which saved a combined 4,773 jobs at least through the end of the year, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration.

"We're hopeful there'll be no loss and the building will have no impact [on city finances] — we won't have to put any funds into it to keep it operational, at least," Miasek said.

But the scope of the COVID-19 pandemic leaves much unknown. If there's no foreseeable sea change by late fall or early winter, city leaders will have to reexamine the situation. But it's still too premature for that discussion, he noted.

"If it doesn't [reopen], the city's going to have to make tough choices in regards to its budget and moving forward," Miasek said. "[We're] going to have to then make sacrifices, figuring out how we're going to make payments.

"It's one day at a time," Miasek said. "We're not alone in this. This is happening across all venues in the country."

Though an Ohio Department of Health order setting a reopening date for the performing arts sector is expected "soon," it was not announced Monday.

Below is a list of mandatory requirements and recommended guidelines for reopening performing arts venues, released Friday by the state. To view a full-size version, click the icon in the upper-right:

This story was originally published August 25, 2020 at 3:52 AM with the headline "Covelli, Packard likely to stay closed under Ohio pandemic restrictions, operators said."