SHOW ME CENTER HAS EXCEEDED EXPECTATIONS

When the Show Me Center opened in August 1987, who would have guessed that it would receive its 1 millionth customer a short two-and-one-half years later, on Feb. 16, 1990?

And who would have thought that on June 26, 1993, less than three-and-one-half years later, the center would greet its 2 millionth customer? But it did; Amity Banter of Carbondale that day became the 2 millionth person to walk through the center's turnstiles at a matinee performance of Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

Center Director David Ross didn't expect those kinds of attendance numbers early on. In fact, after he arrived in January 1987, he projected total attendance at Show Me Center events of 200,000 annually, based, admittedly, on nothing more than his experience at a venue from which he had come at Chattanooga, Tenn. At that rate it would take roughly five years for 1 million people to pass through its doors and 10 years for 2 million.

But during the 11 months from August 1987, to June 1988, 337,917 people attended Show Me Center events. Each year since, annual attendance has been running well over 300,000 more in the neighborhood of 325,000 to 330,000. And during the fiscal year just ended July 1992 to June 1993 total attendance was 327,330 people, 44,357 more than the preceding year. Fiscal 1993 attendance ranks fourth best in the venue's almost seven-year history.

It should be apparent to everyone that the center has more than lived up to its expectations. The arena annually hosts an assortment of events, from college basketball games to rodeos and from commencement exercises to rock 'n' roll and country music concerts, drawing upon diverse interests of people throughout Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois. In addition, its meeting rooms are in heavy demand, having accommodated more than 58,000 people last fiscal year alone.

Events at the Show Me Center, built by Southeast Missouri State University and the city of Cape Girardeau, serves to draw people to Cape Girardeau by providing a place for entertainment that otherwise would not play here. And university basketball continues to draw crowds, accounting for most of the 101,376 people who attended athletic events at the center last fiscal year.

Congratulations, Show Me Center, on your 2 millionth customer. No doubt the 3 millionth is soon in your future.