Gov. Ned Lamont is further easing various COVID-19 restrictions on businesses and crowd sizes starting today, but Hartford’s two largest event venues are looking at a slow spring and summer.
An already sparse schedule of event bookings at the XL Center and the Connecticut Convention Center due to the pandemic is expected to become even emptier, officials said Thursday at the Capital Region Development Authority’s board of directors meeting.
A May 22 USA Gymnastics event at XL, which is allowed to reopen but only at 10% capacity under Lamont’s latest update to the state’s guidelines, is likely to be canceled, said CRDA board member Andy Besette, who is chief administrative officer at Travelers Cos. That means UConn hockey, which begins in October, might be the next scheduled event at the arena, though Freimuth said there are ongoing talks about several concert dates in September. The Hartford Wolf Pack are playing games at the XL Center but no fans have been allowed. The team’s season ends in May.
Meanwhile at the Convention Center, the annual ConnectiCon pop-culture fan convention, which had been booked for July after organizers were forced to cancel last summer amid the pandemic, will be moved to September, Len Wolman, CEO of venue manager Waterford Hotel Group, told the board.
The Convention Center, which is being used as a COVID-19 vaccine site, has nothing else listed on its events schedule online.
Outdoor venues like East Harford’s Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field have fewer restrictions, and can now run at 50% capacity up to 10,000 people. In May, UConn is planning to hold its commencement ceremony at Rentschler, and there’s an NCAA lacrosse championship scheduled later that month over Memorial Day Weekend.
CRDA Executive Director Michael Freimuth said he’s concerned about the ability of venue operators to bring back needed staff quickly enough when the time comes, since there are likely to be fewer or more uncertain work hours to offer.
“If we do bring them back in the new fiscal year, we need a strong book of business with revenues to sustain the payroll, otherwise we’d be laying them off again,” Freimuth said.
The venues are seen as key economic generators for the region, particularly as it struggles to recover from the pandemic. CRDA board members are hoping that some of the recently passed federal stimulus money might flow through for economic development in the region, perhaps helping to restart the Front Street District or nearby hotels that have suffered over the past year.
“The hotel business is obviously related to the venues and the venues are dependent on the hotels, so it’s going to take a little work to get the flywheel going again,” Freimuth said. ”Getting these machines running again may well be the best use of the COVID money for economic development, but how to do it and the timing of doing it is still unchartered territory.”
