The city of Janesville will soon have numbers on what it could cost to run the Woodman’s Sports & Convention Center.
Woodman’s Center General Manager Tony Thiry says his third-party company, Sports Facilities, is due in August to give the city a facility budget for 2026.
The city-owned Woodman’s Center opens this fall, but 2026 will be the first full year of operations at the new ice arena and sports and convention center on Milton Avenue.
Thiry says his group is working off a “short budget” through December, but they have not presented estimates on what it could cost to run the Woodman’s Center.
The city previously said the Woodman’s Center probably will not be profitable its first few years, although officials say they hope business at its attached convention hall could offset costs. The city estimates the Woodman’s Center could require a $60,000 taxpayer subsidy its first year.
Other consultants looking at prospects for a new ice arena in Beloit said late last year such a facility might cost more like $500,000 a year to operate, although those estimates are for an ice arena in Beloit that would not have a revenue-generating convention center like the one that is part of the Woodman’s Center.
Janesville City Manager Kevin Lahner says the Woodman’s Center’s 28,000-square-foot convention center space is already seeing some bookings for its first year. It’s set up to accommodate trade shows, conventions and indoor sports.
That space is separate from the two ice sheets that will be used to host Janesville Jets ice hockey and youth, club and high school hockey and figure skating.
