ELMIRA, NY (WENY) -- The Chemung County Industrial Development Agency (IDA) hosted a press conference on Tuesday afternoon to discuss community concerns and an audit that was performed on First Arena in Elmira. IDA Chairman Mark Margeson said this was the first audit done on First Arena and the hope is to come as close to breaking even as possible.

The audit looked at the arena's finances and the record keeping of income and other expenses, among other matters regarding operations. Margeson said one thing the audit revealed was a lack of controls for a debit card for the arena, and that's being addressed. The audit showed multiple people had access to the debit card, though Margeson said it was only used by one person 99% of the time, and when it wasn't in use it was kept in a safe.

"We are also changing the debit card to a credit card because the auditors felt the credit card would provide us with a better structure of the expense activity that we have for better record keeping," said Margeson.

Margeson said the IDA wants to streamline things and help keep arena costs down, by delegating tasks and spreading duties among another person or two. He said this would help create a checks and balance system for better record keeping.

"I think it's important the public understands a few things. We don't get tax money to run this building, that's a misnomer. We utilize funds that the IDA has gleaned from business opportunities that they brought into the community. That's where the funding comes from. In addition, funding comes from sales tax from items here (First Arena), concessions, ticket sales...," said Margeson.

He added, "The perception is we're utilizing sales tax revenue from the public and we're using county tax money. The only tax money that we would potentially use would be ARP (American Rescue Plan) funding that came from the federal government. We've used some of that and there is additional funds that have been allocated that are available for infrastructure development. That's what it's primarily for, it's not to run the Arena."

The Chemung County Legislature previously approved $500,000 in ARP funding to be set aside for the arena. That funding has not yet been requested for use by the IDA/CCCRC, but IDA Executive Director Joe Roman said the money could be used towards infrastructure improvements, such as capital projects related to the facility. 

Overall, Margeson said the goal has always been to bring the arena back to life.

"I always said there [are] three options; Option number one is knock it down. Option number two is to let it sit there. Option number three is let's find a way to move it forward...We have a team here that has dedicated themselves to bringing this facility back," said Margeson.

Margeson said the vision is to stabilize the facility and bring it back functionally, so it can be sold in the future to a potential buyer. He said while the arena may not be turning a profit, people coming to hockey games and events is still a benefit to the community.

"How many people are staying at hotels? How many people ate at restaurants? How many people went to bars? How many people bought gas? How many people came into town for the concert? For the games? You've got to look at the economic benefit of this facility. If it doesn't break even, the community is making money," said Margeson.

Margeson and Roman said they will make the audit available to the public soon. They also said hockey will return next season, and they're focused on continuing to attract new events and acts to draw people to the arena and downtown Elmira.

Upcoming events at First Arena include:

- Elmira River Sharks vs. Watertown Wolves on March 30th at 6:07 p.m.
- Elmira River Sharks vs. Binghamton Black Bears on April 3rd at 7:05 p.m.
- Femmes of Rock on April 26th at 7:30 p.m.
- Abducted by the 80's on June 15th at 7:30 p.m.
- Cooper Alan Live in Concert on August 17th at 7:30 p.m.

The full press conference from March 26th, 2024 can be found below.