DeVos Place Sustains Small Loss

GRAND RAPIDS — DeVos Place registered its smallest monthly financial loss in the new convention center’s 14-month history last month.

The building lost only $33,646 in January.

The previous best red-ink month occurred in November when DeVos Place lost $70,877.

The center hosted 34 events in January, a month that marked the start of the annual consumer-show run the building will host through much of March.

For the fiscal year, DeVos Place has lost $766,411 through seven months and is on course to lose $1.27 million for FY05.

Van Andel Arena also suffered a loss in January, as the building dropped $73,671 for the month.

Event income was well below expectations because the arena didn’t host a concert last month and the Disney on Ice event, which normally plays the arena in January, was moved to April.

The arena had a fiscal-year surplus of $900,316 going into February and is headed toward a year-end surplus of $1.32 million.