DALLAS (CelebrityAccess MediaWire) — The Smirnoff Music Centre in Dallas is coming under increased scrutiny by Dallas officials. According to the Dallas Morning News, city council members believe that the venue has not been complying with their contractual obligations. The city council has requested an external audit of the Smirnoff Centre's books, which the House of Blues operated facility has thus far refused. The city is currently exploring options to force the venue to allow external auditors to review their concert schedules and financial records.
According to the Dallas Morning News, the Centre maintains that they are in compliance with the city's documentary requests, but the city claims that they are not.
"Like a lot of contracts, we have the right to audit them. Smirnoff doesn't want to cooperate," Mayor Laura Miller told the Dallas Morning. "They're not being forthcoming. And we're not going to sit here and do nothing about it."
The 20,000 seat facility is owned by the City of Dallas and operated by private leaseholders. Currently, HoB is overseeing operations but will hand over control to Live Nation as part of the recent buyout. The arrangement stipulates that the city will receive a percentage of the venue's revenue which is derived from ticket sales and concessions. The revenue for the city has been substantial, over 3 million dollars from 2001 to 2004. The city council became suspicious during a routine financial review this year and plans to hire the audit firm of Weaver & Tidwell to review the books. – CelebrityAccess Staff Writers
