Holland civic center place

Our front porch. Our living room. our Family Room

A Second Life for Holland’s Most Used Public Venue.

My enthusiasm for the future of Holland led to my appointment to the Civic Center Steering Committee in 2015. My ability to articulate a clear vision for the future of the place “where more people in Holland feel at home” led to my appointment to its newly formed Advisory Board and to my election as its chair. When the city needed someone to work with community leaders and donors, large and small, to fill the gap in funding its construction, they asked me to help lead the effort. I am proud to say that with the help and support of hundreds of community members and donors, Holland’s most used public facility was completed under budget and two months ahead of schedule.

Shouldn’t it “Make money?”

Like almost all public facilities, the Holland Civic Center Place was never designed or expected to "make money."  There are certain events that take place at the Civic Center that are ticketed and there are times when it is rented for private events that do generate some revenue to help offset expenses.  But it is often used for public events, like our annual International Festival for example, that do not generate any revenue, and actually cost money to put on. That is a what it was designed for.

The city has Always budgeted funds to support the Civic Center: before and after the renovation.

The question that Council has continued to wrestle with is: What is the appropriate balance of public vs. private events at the Civic Center?  The more it is freely open and available to the public, the more tax dollars are needed to cover operational expenses.  But the more it is rented for private events, the less it will be available for public use by the taxpayers.

Council has had extensive conversations in recent years about the appropriate balance of public vs. private use.  As a result of those conversations, in 2024 City Council hired a new company to manage the Civic Center and made a significant change to city ordinances governing the Civic Center operations. Previously, an all volunteer board provided day to day oversight of the management company.  Now our city staff has direct oversight of Civic Center operations.

Public Spaces are for Public Use

I often use our parks as a parallel example.  Kollen Park and Centennial Park can be reserved for private events. We have had a public registration system, open to everyone, for years. Those parks, like the Civic Center Place, require city tax dollars to operate and maintain every year.  We do not think of Kollen Park as "making money" or "losing money" in any year.  Our individual parks do not have their own line items in the budget, but our total Parks and Recreation budget is our second largest budget category, exceeded only by our public safety budget.

Where are we headed?

Council does not expect or intend the Civic Center to ever become a "for profit" venue. It was built with public dollars and should be available for public use. But Council does expect that staff and our new management company will be able to operate the facility with the appropriate balance of public and private use. Council will continue to keep a close eye on the Civic Center, as we do with all city facilities, and are prepared to make additional changes if necessary.