EMPIRE ADDS TO SUCCESS

Nevada Event Center Chooses Cover-All Building

(PRWEB) August 9, 2003 -- Adjacent to Palm Springs, nestled within the city of Indio is a dream Mecca for every event planner visiting the Coachella valley. The Empire Polo Club and Event Center is 200 acres of manicured beauty for sport enthusiasts, private and public event organizers, as well as many Fortune 1000 companies who require the perfect setting to stage premier events. Alex Haagen the 3rd, President and CEO of Empire Polo Club and Event Facility contributes the success of the facility to the experienced and talented staff that is intimately involved in the day-to-day details of the customers needs.

"The quality of people we hire is the main reason why we have achieved our high standards of success. The planning and preparation that goes into every event requires experience and creativity, it's the reason why things run smoothly and event planners enjoy working with us," says Haagen.

Haagen is no stranger to constructing high occupancy facilities. Since it's beginnings over 40 years ago, the Haagen Company has constructed and developed over 12 million square feet of retail development which include more than 100 shopping centers, neighborhood malls, restaurants, promotional and regional centers in Southern California. In the month of March of 1987, Empire Polo and Event Center first opened its fields to Polo enthusiasts across the United States and since then has been developed into a $60 million dollar world-class event facility.

The five full size polo fields are also used for soccer, field hockey, fire work displays, rugby, equestrian events, balloon festivals, car shows, dog shows, art festivals, the list goes on. The fields are equipped with lights for late evening use as well.

For occasions that require a controlled environment, Empire also offers an impressive multi-purpose high occupancy convention facility. The indoor facility is a little more than a year old and offers a new dimension of creativity to event planners. "When destination management organizers and event planners step inside this building, they get excited. This structure removes confinements that are often accustomed with in conventional ballroom settings," says Haagen.

The Empire facility offers close to 60 feet of height, and 48,000 square feet of clear span space to work within. The exposed steel truss tubing enables organizers the opportunity to position props, signage, lighting, almost anything safely off the floor and allow a clear area to design their floor plan.

The new facilities addition is a 160 ft wide by 300 ft long Cover-All TITAN building, provided by Darcy Dahlem of Vision Building Systems / Cover-All of Nevada. The manufacturer Cover-All Building Systems is the largest manufacturer of steel framed fabric covered pre-engineered buildings in the world. Cover-All buildings have been used for recreational, commercial, industrial, equestrian and agricultural applications extensively throughout North America, as well as in 13 other countries.

"The first time we saw a Cover-All building was at Spruce Meadows Equestrian Center in Alberta, Canada. What we saw in the Cover-All building technology was a unique structure that would meet our requirements for a multi-purpose venue and a marketable venue that would be attractive to event organizers," says Haagen.

The Empire Polo and Event Center team and Vision Building Systems/Cover-All companies worked over the span of six months planning the construction and customization of the venue. Working with the local county and city officials, the building was classified as a high occupancy facility. "The Empire project is impressive," says Dahlem. "The building was designed to provide Empire a broad use for a variety of applications, the pre-planning was an important stage of the construction process. Making the building functional for a variety of event use was the key objective," says Dahlem.

Large 15 ft by 25 ft roll up doors provide semi trailer access into the building to load and unload equipment. The customized entrance ways also enable show organizers to position additional seating within the entrance ways for outside spectators to comfortably view events inside the building.

Since the facility has been open, the surrounding hotels have greatly benefited from the events held in this facility. "Hotels have been able to fill their rooms to convention organizers who require a room larger than the hotel can offer. We have hosted large weddings, art festivals, car shows, team penning, conventions, some of the largest dog shows in the US, public and private concerts, rodeo's, ... almost any type of event you can imagine," says Haagen. Some of the concerts acts Empire has hosted in the new facility include: The Doobie Brothers, The B-52's, Little Richard, Cirque, and more. "The acoustics are amazing and the light system we have installed is state of the art," says Haagen. Empire is equipped with a sophisticated lighting system that enables computer programmed 400 and 1000 watt adjustable lighting systems to light up a large stage and spotlight use, as well as to create the perfect ambiance. Laser light systems and Gobo lighting technology can be programmed and designed to project full color visuals, corporate logos, text information, almost anything that can be imagined. The facility is equipped with seven transformers to power major events.

"It's quite an attraction at night for spectators outside of the building," says Haagen. "The translucent fabric provides a drive inn theatre effect to anyone inside or outside of the building. We recently hosted the Bob Hope Classic Pairings Party which had a picture of Bob Hope projected from inside which drew a lot of attention from spectators outside of the building. When the building is lit up, you can see it from miles around. We are currently researching to incorporate projected video and film footage into the facility as well," says Haagen.    

With the new Cover-All building addition the Empire management team have been able to greatly expand the dynamics of their marketing. "The facility is performing beyond our expectations," says Haagen. "The marketability of the building has enabled us to set us apart from other convention facilities. The interior environment is unlike any other facility. We have had several professional event organizers who are accustomed to hosting events in conventional ballrooms that have walked into this facility and completely change the direction of their convention theme. The facility is often booked as a back-up venue to guard against sudden weather changes for outside events as well. Event organizers don't want surprises but they always expect them. This facility has been an 'event saver' for many organizers," says Haagen.

Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night ... the show must go on. It's nice to know that Empire Polo Club and Event Center is able to meet most destination management companies and event planners challenges.