SHOW ME CENTER GETS HONOR AS BEST VENUE

The Show Me Center, Radio City Music Hall, Madison Square Garden, the Pontiac SilverDome and Seattle's Kingdome are among the winners in a magazine poll of the best entertainment facilities in the U.S.

The Prime Site Awards are given annually by Facilities Magazine and are based on voting by promoters, booking agents and personal managers. The Show Me Center was one of 26 entertainment venues to receive 1997 awards.

The Show Me Center's heady company also includes the America West Arena in Phoenix, the Seattle Center in Seattle, Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego and the Nashville Arena.

The is the first time the 10-year-old Show Me Center has won the award, which has been given out for the past four years.

Show Me Center director David Ross said the Show Me Center staff is excited about receiving the honor. "It's not often people recognize the people in the service industry who do the work behind the scenes," Ross said. "For a facility to win an award like this says a lot about the quality of our employees."

The national praise comes while the 7,500-seat Show Me Center is having difficulty attracting popular rock bands. "We have a good national name," he said. "Our hindrance, if we have one, is the fact that we're so small.

"In terms of a small facility in a small market that does well, we're one of the better ones," Ross said.

Last fall, Ross said the venue would try to begin booking Christian rock music. Thursday, he announced that the high-riding contemporary Christian rock band Jars of Clay will play the Show Me Center April 9.

Another 1997 Prime Site Award winner, the Brown County Arena/Exposition Hall in Green Bay, Wis., is run by John Dederich, the father of Show Me Center marketing director Terry Dederich.

Dederich said the award should help the Show Me Center among promoters and booking agents who haven't used the venue in the past.

"It'll start some talking now that it has been published," he said.

Michael Caffin, the magazine's managing editor, said the magazine received several thousand nominations. To win an award, the facility had to receive at least 175 votes.

"It goes to show that the Show Me Center does a fabulous job," Caffin said. "It's certainly one of the better facilities in that region."

A big name doesn't always matter with people in the business, he said. "The little things count as well, like interaction with the staff, ease of getting in and out of the facility. Obviously the Show Me Center is doing its job very well."

Caffin agrees that venues can make use of the honor. Many include it in print ads and add the Prime Site Award logo to their letterheads, he said.