COLORADO SPRINGS — Many of us can't wait for sports and entertainment venues to reopen so we can once again enjoy our favorite games and concerts safely, but it will likely be weeks before that happens. Investigative Reporter Patrick Nelson spoke with leaders at the Broadmoor World Arena about the challenges they're facing and what has them hopeful for the future.
The future for sports and entertainment venues across the county is uncertain. Here in southern Colorado one of the biggest venues is the Broadmoor World Arena. Instead of hosting Disney On Ice, the ice is gone. The staff at the arena is planning and preparing for the future.
"These are things that are out of our control. We have no control of them," said Broadmoor World Arena General Manager Dot Lischick. "We want people to be safe and we want people to be healthy."
The Broadmoor World Arena relies on large crowds and entertainers. General Manager Dot Lischick knows the coming days are going to be difficult after closing the arena doors at the direction of medical experts and state leaders as Coronavirus concerns play out.
"We're down to skeleton here. We're in the hallway. We're doing as much as we can to conserve our expenses and we are staying in touch with our staff to let them know what's going on," said Lischick.
With empty seats and concession stands the closure hurts arena employees, but Lischick is sending a message of hope.
"I have to have hope," said Lischick. "I have to lead the team that we have to be hopeful. We're going to figure it out. We said we've been through fires, we've been through 9/11, we've been through storms. We're going to make it through this. We have to."
If you have tickets to a World Arena event, Lischick says the staff will work hard to take care of you.
Those third party tickets are difficult to track down, but hang on to your ticket. We're going to fight our way through everything and if possible we will help you though it," said Lischick.
The staff at the Broadmoor World Arena says their phones have been ringing non-stop. People are calling with questions about their current tickets and about future events. Arena staff would prefer it if you go online and visit their website broadmoorworldarena.com and hopefully on that website you can get your questions answered. Otherwise, there are emails listed for the staff there.
