Watertown Event Center General Manager Urges City Council to Invest in Long-Term Plan Amid Booking Decline and Maintenance Concerns
Northeast Radio SD News – Watertown, SD - Two of the community’s leading tourism and event‑industry professionals urged the City Council Monday night to take stronger action to stabilize and invest in the Watertown Event Center, warning that the facility’s economic impact is being undermined by aging infrastructure, unclear oversight, and a troubled management transition.
The comments came during the council’s open forum, where Event Center General Manager Brittany Scott and Visit Watertown Director of Business Development Lindsay Stangl delivered aligned messages: the Event Center is one of Watertown’s most important economic drivers — and without a long‑term operational plan, the city risks losing major events, visitor spending, and tax revenue.
Event Center GM: “This facility deserves a long‑term strategy and responsible stewardship.”
During the council’s open forum, Brittany Scott, general manager of the Watertown Event Center, spoke, outlining what she described as a year of operational instability, declining bookings, and mounting maintenance issues following the departure of WR Hospitality — the company that managed the facility for nearly two decades.
Scott, who has worked at the Event Center for a combined ten years, said the venue’s importance to Watertown’s economy cannot be overstated. With 32,000 square feet of meeting space and South Dakota’s largest indoor amphitheater, she noted that no other facility in the region can host large weddings, multi‑day conferences, or events drawing hundreds of visitors.
Those visitors, she emphasized, directly support local hotels, restaurants, retailers, and the city’s third‑penny sales tax.
Bookings Plummeted After Management Transition
Scott told the council that when WR Hospitality announced it would end its management agreement following the sale of the attached hotel, the Event Center entered “a period of uncertainty.” Communication was limited, she said, and opportunities to explore experienced management companies “were not fully pursued.”
The result, according to Scott, was a steep decline in wedding bookings:
· Average weddings per year (since 2020): ~35
· Weddings booked for 2026: 14
· Estimated weddings lost: ~20
· Estimated revenue loss: $147,000
She said she repeatedly warned city officials that shifting additional building expenses to the Event Center would not be sustainable, especially with such a sharp drop in revenue.
Those concerns, she said, “were not reflected in the final decisions.”
Operational Problems: “Not isolated incidents”
Scott described a year marked by continual operational challenges under the current management arrangement:
· City‑owned shared spaces “not properly maintained”
· City‑owned equipment “damaged or misplaced”
· Event Center staff absorbing costs for cleaning, repairs, and replacements
· Daily operational disruptions caused by unclear accountability
“These are not isolated incidents,” she said. “They have become part of our daily operations.”
Scott offered to provide the council with documentation, photographs, and invoices detailing the issues.
Aging Facility, Deferred Maintenance
Much of the Event Center’s infrastructure — including furniture, kitchen equipment, lighting, carpeting, HVAC units, air walls, wallpaper, and landscaping — remains original from 2004.
Scott said the building now faces:
· Aging mechanical systems
· Significant lighting failures
· Deteriorating finishes
· Equipment past its useful life
“These are issues that have been communicated to the city over several years,” she said.
Despite Challenges, Staff Recovered $90,000 in New Sales
Even after beginning the year with more than $100,000 less in expected revenue and absorbing nearly that much in unexpected bills, Scott said her team has already recovered approximately $90,000 in new sales, and bookings for 2027 are trending upward.
She told the council she has complete economic impact data, actual vs. projected sales for 2026, and projections for 2027 — all showing that with the right management agreement, the Event Center can operate profitably and continue growing.
Call for Long‑Term Strategy and Investment
Scott stressed that her purpose was not to assign blame, but to urge the city to recognize the facility’s value and protect it.
She asked the council to commit to:
· A long‑term operational strategy
· Clear accountability between the city and management
· Responsible stewardship of city‑owned assets
· A capital improvement plan
“If there’s no Watertown Event Center,” she said, “these large weddings, conferences, conventions, and community events simply cannot or will not come to Watertown.”
Scott warned that losing the facility’s capacity would mean fewer hotel stays, fewer restaurant visits, fewer retail purchases, and ultimately reduced sales tax revenue.
“Our community has shown it’s willing to invest in new facilities,” she said. “I hope we’re equally committed to investing in the maintenance of those facilities because that’s what protects the taxpayers’ investment for future generations.”
Closing Message
“This building has served our community for over 20 years,” Scott said. “With the right leadership, investment, and collaboration, it can continue doing so for decades to come.”
She thanked the council for its time and said she is prepared to provide further documentation upon request.
Visit Watertown: “This is one of our community’s most important economic drivers.”
Following Scott’s remarks, Visit Watertown’s Business Development Director Lindsay Stangl stepped forward to reinforce the Event Center’s importance to the city’s tourism economy.
Stangl said she works closely with Scott on multi‑day conference proposals — events that bring in overnight visitors who spend two to four times more than day‑trip attendees.
“Conferences are one of the greatest opportunities we have to bring significant numbers of visitors and their dollars to Watertown,” she said.
Stangl emphasized that the Event Center’s staff — with more than 40 years of combined experience — represents institutional knowledge and community relationships that are “incredibly rare” in the event‑management industry.
“To continue competing for those opportunities,” she said, “we need an event center that is supported by a mutually beneficial operating agreement and guided by a long‑term capital improvement plan.”
The council did not take action Monday night, as open‑forum comments are informational only.
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