The larger of the two expansion options would have enough room for a food court but it would also extend outside of the arena.

CAA advancing arena concourse expansion
David Czurak

Getting rid of the congestion that occurs in the northwest corner of the Van Andel Arena concourse during heavily attended events isn’t just an issue of convenience or aesthetics for the Convention and Arena Authority — it’s also about revenue.

Quite a bit of revenue.

The food and merchandise stands in that corner collect up to 25 percent of an event’s ancillary income, and having it clogged during a sold-out concert or game could discourage some customers from making a purchase.

Ancillary income to the arena during the last fiscal year fell just short of reaching $1.6 million.

“This is a customer-service issue. A lot of revenue comes from that corner and it is a bottleneck right now,” said Lew Chamberlin, CAA member and chairman of the Operations Committee.

To alleviate the problem that pops up about 60 times a year, the CAA is taking a serious look at expanding the corner. It is focusing on two options that Rossetti & Associates, the arena’s original designer, provided from a circulation study done by the architectural firm.

One option would cost $425,100 and would enlarge the corner by 1,940 square feet, while the other would cost $875,000 and extend it by 3,100 square feet.

“It’s much less than we anticipated,” said Rich MacKeigan, CAA executive director and SMG regional general manager, of the price tag.

The larger expansion would have room for a 60-seat food court, and MacKeigan said it might give the building another sponsorship opportunity. But it also extends outside of the arena and would disrupt the flow of the exterior design. The smaller version allows for more points-of-sale but not for a food court, and it doesn’t make changes to the exterior.

The money for an expansion would come from the CAA’s capital improvement budget, which is $1.9 million this year. The biggest item in that budget, at $1.2 million, is an electronic ribbon board that would wrap around the façade that separates the lower and upper bowls.

But MacKeigan said a smaller, $200,000 LED board that would hang beneath the scoreboard and the concourse expansion together would cost less than the ribbon board.

“I think what we’re going to do is go back to Rossetti and get a physical model.”

Chamberlin said the CAA has set aside about $350,000 from lease payments made by DP Fox Sports and Entertainment, the majority owner of the Grand Rapids Griffins, and that money could go toward the LED board.

“We’ll be hearing more on this in the future,” he said.

CAA Chairman Steven Heacock said he wants the Operations Committee to examine the expansion further and make a recommendation to the board soon — possibly as early as next month.

“I think it’s real important that we take full responsibility for this decision.”