La Crosse Center board flags 2027 budget shortfall as staff highlight marketing gains and deferred maintenance

The La Crosse Center board heard on Monday that the venue is not projected to finish in the black for 2027 and will need options ranging from a subsidy to use of surplus, staff said.

Jay (La Crosse Center staff) told the board the monthly budget report was withheld because room-tax revenue posted incorrectly and said the Center’s operating budget now sits outside the citywide operating budget. "We're not in a place where we're projecting to finish in the black for 2027," Jay said, urging broader conversation with the mayor, council and the board about the Center’s long-term operating model.

The warning came alongside staff presentations on marketing performance and building maintenance. Mark Quintero Bongert, an intern who led a major marketing project, said the Center’s 2025 efforts produced 11,700,000 impressions across platforms, 28,283 Facebook followers and 160 events in the building. "Impressions are a way to track how efficient our ads are doing," Mark said, noting limitations in conversion tracking and that some attribution shifts between platforms can obscure the precise source of ticket sales.

Courtney Alcock, identified in the presentation as Mark’s supervisor, said the Center has contracted outside marketing support for entertainment-driven shows and that some show-specific marketing expenses are charged to individual event budgets rather than the general marketing fund. Board members asked whether staff could add geographic breakdowns and year-over-year comparisons to future reports; staff said Facebook and other channels can provide some location analytics and that a full year-to-year comparison has not yet been completed.

Staff also described several deferred-maintenance and capital issues. Dan announced that Josh is no longer with the Center and that the board promoted Matt Stanek to operations manager; Matt reported chiller startup problems, leaking valves and failing frequency drives discovered in an efficiency review, a nonworking fire and smoke door currently closed by code, and a water-heater quote of about $15,000 (without labor) for the South Ballroom. On lighting controls for older South Hall spaces, Matt said some obsolete equipment was temporarily sourced as stopgap but a larger replacement will be required.

Board members discussed the citywide Johnson Controls contract and how the Center is billed for that agreement. Staff said the Center currently pays $110,000 a year toward the city contract but that the Center’s fair share should be about $170,000; staff also said the venue’s solar panels have saved roughly $50,000 annually.

The board handled routine business at the meeting as well: members approved the minutes from the previous month and voted to approve liquor expenses by voice vote.

La Crosse County tourism staff also reported countywide figures: Eric said state data show La Crosse County generated $532,000,000 in total economic impact and $326,500,000 in direct visitor spending in 2025, up about 2.3–2.4% from 2024. He added that group-event counts were similar year-over-year but that room nights from group events declined by roughly 9,500, a change the county’s meeting-and-conventions committee intends to address by targeting longer multi-night events.

The board adjourned after the items above; staff said further updates on budget, marketing analytics and maintenance costs will be brought back in coming months.