In spite of a summer that was filled with high profile events Shell Place has ended the fiscal year with a budget deficit that is approximately $387,000. The original prediction by the Regional Recreation Corporation was that there would be a deficit of almost $6 million, so $400,000 seems like a big improvement. $3.7 million of the deficit that was expected was eliminated when the company laid off 8 employees. Six of the employees were part time custodial staff, one employee was a full time building operator, and one employee was a full time handyman and maintenance staff. Shell Place suffered losses on three big events planned to attract crowds to the new venue. The Aerosmith concert and the Northern Kickoff games caused losses of $2.9 million, and there were events budgeted for July and September 2015 that had unrealized revenue as well which added $1.5 million to the deficit.

According to RRC CEO Annette Antoniak “There was the expectation with the opening of Shell Place in a robust economy that we would achieve those numbers and that didn’t happen.” Antoniak stated that she will try to pitch a budget for 2016 that is more conservative while still being sufficient to book top name acts and performers who can draw in large crowds. The CEO told the media that “You will see a budget done on numbers we know we can achieve given the current economic situation.” Councilor Tyran Ault said “You just had to look at how many empty seats there were at the events to come to this conclusion. We didn’t know the numbers until today, we learned about them at the same time as everybody else, but this wasn’t a surprise.”