“We did the study to understand how we can be a better version of ourselves,” said Steve Bergstresser, Kettering assistant city manager.
Opened in the early 1990s, the Fraze has a capacity of 4,300 seats and serves as the city’s home for live music, community events, and festivals, the study notes.
“However, with increasing competition in the outdoor venue market, the Fraze has been underperforming in both ticket sales and ancillary revenue generation, which is causing a greater than anticipated need for annual city subsidy,” the study said.
Credit: Tom Gilliam
Credit: Tom Gilliam
Among the 352-page report’s findings.
- The Fraze concessions program is “struggling to meet modern day concessions program standards” due to the physical infrastructure requiring nightly, manual, temporary point-of-sale set-up.
- There are challenges with the overall quality of staff and volunteers, “as many frontline employees are younger and may lack the necessary motivation or experience to consistently provide high-quality, fast service.”
- Competition from the Rose Music Center, which is operated by MEMI Music and Event Management Inc., poses “a substantial challenge.” MEMI also owns and operates the PNC Pavilion and the much larger Riverbend Music Center (both in Cincinnati) in partnership with Live Nation. “With Live Nation’s involvement, MEMI has access to a larger pool of tours, increasing their control of the local market.”
- If the Fraze wants to be competitive, Kettering will “need to make significant infrastructure and operational improvements.” The report’s authors suggest that the Fraze consider developing different kinds of programming and maintaining a mixed booking strategy. “While high-profile shows will continue to be more difficult to secure, Fraze can lean into community-driven events.” One recommendation: Issuing an request for qualifications to attract new festival promoters.
One key recommendation is for city leaders to explore rebranding and pursuing new programming.
“By striking a balance between community-focused events, low-cost ticketed shows, and a select number of larger ticketed concerts, Fraze Pavilion can re-establish itself as both a cultural asset and a financially sustainable venue.”
One step the city has taken is to seek to book shows and advertise for next year’s Fraze Pavilion season earlier.
In September, Kettering City Council approved more than $2.9 million in spending for the 2025 Fraze performance season.
The city taking action now “will provide administrative flexibility to promote programs and activities at the Fraze and other facilities” under Kettering’s Parks, Recreation and Cultural Arts Department, Bergstresser said in September.
“Essentially, in order to begin booking and advertising shows for the 2025 season, the city needs to pass the authorizing legislation now,” he said earlier this year.
Credit: Tom Gilliam
Credit: Tom Gilliam
Credit: Tom Gilliam
Credit: Tom Gilliam
The Rose Music Center in Huber Heights, a 4,200-seat covered amphitheater, was completed in 2015. This past summer, Huber Heights announced a proposal for a second music venue near the Rose.
In 2024, the Rose drew acts such as guitarist Slash, Alice Cooper, Jason Isbell, the Stray Cats and others. Riverbend, which seats more than 20,000, featured Santana and Counting Crows in 2024, with Janet Jackson, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Train, REO Speedwagon and other bands and acts.
In an interview this week, Bergstresser said the Fraze operating model needs to be thought of a “community gathering space,” more than merely a ticketed concert venue. It’s a venue in one of the most heavily used city parks in Kettering, he said.
“We’re not going to go away from that (being a ticketed concert venue), that type of entertainment in the Fraze going forward,” he said. “It’s just that we understand there is competition. We also understand the Fraze offers more.”
What has worked in recent months for the city is hosting a dozen or more larger ticketed events during the year, while offering a location for community festivals such as Holiday at Home’s crafts extravaganza, he said.
The future for the Fraze may look similar to the season the venue just had, a dozen or more ticketed events a year at varying price points.
“That’s probably a reasonable range,” Bergstresser said.
Asked if last season was profitable, he said he didn’t have the numbers immediately available. He also could not say how much the city spends to operate the Fraze on an annual basis.
Typically, Kettering has targeted an operating loss of $300,000 in overseeing the Fraze, this newspaper has reported. Expenses for 2022 were about $800,000 more than revenues, but last year that difference was about $361,000, Kettering records have shown.
Bergstresser said city leaders want ticketed events to be as self-sustaining as possible. “We need to look at the Fraze more than just on the profit-loss side of things,” he added.
City staff have had preliminary conversations with City Council members, but the council just received the final consultant’s report last Friday, he said. Members still need time to read and consider the full report.
In general, he believes city leaders will explore improved seating, an improved point-of-sale operation and other changes.
“We will not be build a new facility,” he said. “We plan to make improvements to the existing facility.”
The report was the work of Theater Projects, a New York-based architecture and planning consulting firm.
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