The Merrell Arena (Often misspelled "Merrill Court")  is managed by a staff of seven people in 2012-2013.  That's one less than in 2012-2013. Lance LaCour, spokesperson for the KAEDC has said that the "first priority of the Merrell Center is not to be seen as a "for profit" convention center."  It appears that the Center has more of an esoteric if not nebulous function.  That being the case, why does the school district find it necessary to hire all these people to "run" it?  Should we be paying this much to schedule graduation exercises?  I can tell you that going to the Astro Arena didn't cost that much! They are taking $377,099.31 from the budget for a boondoggle!  Think how many teachers or bus drivers $377,099.31 would support?  Add to these salaries the costs for the Maintenance Department to keep the place up, fix things up and take them down for renters, and the costs for electricity, water, gas, and so on.

The Merrell Center holds 5,723 or 7,200 people depending on how it is set up.  The Berry Center is almost twice as big. It holds 11,000.  Why didn't they build it big enough in the first place?

I've always thought it was interesting that they built it at all, and I suspect that Merrell simply wanted a monument to himself like Mr. Berry had, and this was all he could muster in a hurry.  I tried to get the District to build a field house that all high schools could use for basketball and volleyball games and other school events, and you should have seen the Athletic Directors coming out of the woodwork at that board meeting!  It was something to behold.  Seems like there was a question of "home court advantage" that they staked their reputations on.  So I lost the effort.  Next thing I know, we have one anyway???  Of course, as we can now realize, the place isn't used for playing high school sports!  (Isn't that what our tax dollars are supposed to support?  Our local students?  Guess not!

There's definitely something wrong here.

Here are the salaries of those who "manage" the arena:

Ben Rolens   General Manager of Facilities   Salary is  $99,486.82  up from . $99,314.87 last year and  up from $96,314.87 the year before last.

Todd Handley  Coordinator of Technical Services    Salary is  $80,757.48 the same as last year at  $80,757.48  and up from $79, 001.44 year before last.

Laurie Mitchess   Coordinator of Marketing and Advertising   Salary is $49,273.68  up from $48,000.01  last year.  (No longer holding this position.)

Denese Shrum  Secretary  Salary is $43,071.53 the same as last year at  $43,071.53.

Lynn Kimble   Facilities Reservation Clerk    Salary is $36,796.25  unchanged for this years but up from $35,769.16 year before last.

Laura Stewart   Facilities Specialist  Salary is $34,398.00  Unchanged from last year.

Elizabeth Prichard Jones    Coordinator of Events at the Leonard Merrell Center   Salary is $33,487.50.  (No longer holding this position.)

Matthew Maury   Coordinator of Senior Events at the Leonard Merrell Center   Salary is $47,099.93.  Hired in 2013-2014 school year.

Cydney Wright  Coordinator of Facilities at the Leonard Merrell Center    Salary is $43,131.55 .  Hired in 2013-2014 school year.

Total Amount Spent for what amounts to seven (7) booking agents for the Arena:  $384,741,56   That is an outrageous sum for this activity!

What exactly is a "facilities specialist"?

What are the "REAL" costs of running this center versus the profit gained from renting it out. 

And no, I don't think the Merrell Center brings any unspecified nebulous benefit to the community.  It's too small as of the day it opened for graduation exercises.  People bring in relatives from out of town, and they can't get a seat! The relatives have to watch the ceremony on a closed circuit TV.   Even the Spring Branch Coliseum was nicer.  Look at this page from their web site, and notice that their high school teams all use the facility!