10A | SATURDAY, AUGUST 21, 2021 | SIUSLAW NEWS
F LORENCE E VENTS C ENTER T HROUGH THE Y EARS
In the past 25 years, the Florence Events Center has host-
ed thousands of memorable events, including the Rho-
dodendron Festival Coronation of Queen Rhododendra
and the King of the Coast, FACE’s Winter Music Festival,
Florence Festival of Books, SEAcoast Entertainment Asso-
ciation’s concert series, art fairs, live theater, dance shows,
flower sales, City of Florence meetings and events, con-
ferences, gallery shows, holiday gatherings, scholarship
nights, trainings, vaccination clinics, expos, award ceremo-
nies, Florence Community PTA’s Talent Show, weddings,
celebrations of life, anniversaries, classes, Florence Area
Chamber of Commerce’s Business After Hours, town halls,
community meetings and so much more.
Florence Event Center’s 25th Anniversary
T
he Florence Events Cen-
ter’s vision began with a
group of Florence citizens in
1986. Ten years later in 1996,
the vision became a reality in
the form of a 21,600 square
foot structure. Ground was
broken on July 29, 1995.
The original concept was
for a multi-purpose space, but
it was later determined that a
flat floor space alone would
not meet the entire needs of
the community. That is when
the plans for a theater entered
the picture.
In search for the optimal
design, a group of all-event
center enthusiasts made sev-
eral trips to various facilities
and, while in a café in Nevada,
scribbled the first rough de-
sign on a piece of scratch paper
which is currently framed and
displayed in the FEC office.
The event center eventually,
through room tax funds, foun-
dation grants and fundraisers,
was built for $3.3 million.
At the beginning of the cam-
paign, the original name of the
facility was to be the “All Events
Center,” but was changed to
the Florence Events Center
during the construction pe-
riod. In September 2000, the
name was once again changed
to the “Florence Convention
and Performing Arts Center,”
with hopes the name would at-
tract more conferences. A few
years later by popular demand,
the name was changed back to
the Florence Events Center
which remains to this day!
There was degree of risk for
a small community to under-
take a project of such mag-
nitude. There were concerns
the building would sit vacant.
Fortunately, business exceeded
expectations and the FEC was
1991
soon in need of more space.
Through a generous dona-
tion from volunteer and FEC
supporter George Weber, the
Executive Board Room, Direc-
tors Office, Green Room and a
storage room were all added,
bringing the total square foot-
age to 22,500 feet.
The first FEC General Man-
ager Joseph Kerr was hired on
Jan. 16, 1995. On his second
day on the job at the opening
of the bids, he learned the low-
est proposal came in $750,000
over budget. After the daunt-
ing challenge of making cuts
in order to reduce the cost of
construction and pursuing ad-
ditional funding, the City of
Florence had accepted a new
bid five months later for $2.4
million from local contractor,
G&C Construction.
Kevin Rhodes joined the
staff as operations manager
1994
on July 22, 1996. He oversaw
the opening of the center, re-
ceiving pages of projects that
needed to be completed prior
to the ribbon cutting.
The Florence Events Cen-
ter officially opened its doors
and was dedicated on Aug. 31,
1996.
That first year saw 303 events
at the events center, which has
continued to expand its offer-
ings over the past 20+ years.
To this day, the facility contin-
ues to remain full of activity
and has grown to host an av-
erage of 400 events and 50,000
attendees per year.
“By the end of 2020, we
hosted over 9,000 events, with
just short of a million attend-
ees coming through our doors
since our grand opening,” said
Rhodes, who became the FEC
director in 2002. “The FEC as
we know it exceeded all expec-
tations and has become an in-
tegral part of our community.”
Rhodes retired from the
role of director at the end of
December 2020. A dedicated
staff has remained on board
throughout the COVID-19
pandemic, and volunteer op-
portunities are popping up.
In addition, local nonprofit
FACE (Florence Arts, Culture
& Entertainment), which used
to be the Friends of the Flor-
ence Events Center, is becom-
ing more active.
The FEC is preparing for
the next round of conferences,
events, concerts, meetings,
weddings, celebrations of life
and whatever else Florence
needs from its “all-events cen-
ter.”
For more information,
stop by 715 Quince St., visit
eventcenter.org or call 541-
997-1994.
1996
Green Light For All-Events Center
— The Siuslaw News
November 16, 1994
The first drawings of the Florence
Events Center are submitted to the
Florence City Council and the All
Events Center Committee for ap-
proval. The preliminary architectural
drawings and a preliminary project
cost estimate came from the project’s
architect, Richard P. Turi.
1993
The Last Resort Players established
with the Florence Performing and
Fine Arts Festival, performing “Log-
gers Lament”.
The group was able to contribute
$5,000 toward the building of the
Florence Events Center.
The ink on the final plans is drying,
the plans are almost ready to go out
and, with luck, construction will start
early in the new year. The all-events
center project is finally at the point
where the long-time wish for a per-
forming arts and convention center in
Florence will become a reality.
“We’re done, we’re ready,” architect
Richard Turi said when he told the
Florence City Council about the plans
for the center.
Councilors voted unanimously to
authorize the architect and the city to
finalize the plans and start the con-
struction bidding process. The vote
was greeted with applause from the
audience of planning and advisory
committee members and residents.
“This is something that’s been going
on for almost a decade at this point,”
Mayor Roger McCorkle said about the
planning and campaigning for the all-
events center.
Area residents joined
the coordinating
committee in support-
ing the FEC through
a brick campaign and
fundraising efforts.
First dreamt of in the late ‘80s, the
Florence Events Center, 715 Quince
St., became a reality in the early ‘90s
and was introduced to Florence under
the name “All Events Center” with the
following slogan, “All Events Center
— We All Need Our Place!”
The FEC Grand Opening was on
Aug. 31, 1996.
The FEC was dedicated to the cit-
izens of Florence whose vision and
efforts made the community facility
possible.
During the opening, Last Resort
Players performed “The Music Man.”
The FEC is a 21,000-square-foot
convention and performing arts cen-
ter. The building consists of a 455-
seat proscenium theater, 8,000 square
feet of meeting space, state-of-the-
art technology and a professionally
equipped kitchen.