Jeanna Duerscherl | The Roanoke Times

The Salem Civic Center is one of the city's top three priorities for multimillion-dollar capital investment in the next decade.

First, there was the Salem Civic Center.

It opened in 1967 and hosted college basketball games and minor league hockey in its first year. Its arena had seats for about 7,000. A "fine, substantial building," its chairman declared at the center's dedication.

Four decades and another civic center later, Salem's yellow civic center is the smaller, older public assembly facility in a secondary market. "We're the underdog," said Carey Harveycutter, who directs the facilities. And it may look the part next to the recently expanded complex in Roanoke.

But the Salem Civic Center still enjoys a reputation as an efficiently run venue whose halls hum with activity half the year. It reliably puts on a calendar of events with a Southwest Virginia touch -- gun shows and rodeos, monster trucks and country stars -- and serves as a meeting place for the community.

At the same time, it faces the challenges of an aging facility, lean sales for concert tickets and the possibility of an aggressive new competitor moving into Roanoke.

"There's probably not many cities of 25,000 that have a facility as big or as nice as the Salem Civic Center," City Manager Kevin Boggess said, echoing the pride he hears around the city. He guessed every Salem resident has visited the landmark at least once.

The civic center conducts regular community business in its parlors. On a typical weekday, a visitor might find the Rotary Club booked in one room and Weight Watchers in another. Salem High School holds its big dances there, too.

Valuing the center as a community asset, Salem's city hall says it's fine with the $1.1 million annual subsidy it pays to keep the building running. "In my experience, civic-type facilities are not a moneymaker," Boggess said. He also pointed to its economic impact.

The civic center estimates its events generated more than $50 million in 2007, according to industry formulas. The Roanoke Valley Horse Show and Salem Fair, two annual events, stirred up almost half that.

Repeat events such as those have helped the civic center establish a consistent mix of family and consumer shows and several rowdier spectacles that require filling the arena with dirt. About eight concerts a year appear on its stage, mostly midrange country singers. (A Statler Brothers concert in 1997 set an arena record, grossing almost $275,000.)

The civic center, which serves as the hub of a larger sports complex, has also made a name for hosting college championships. In the past 15 years, more than 50 NCAA college championships have been held there, including football's Division III Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl at the adjacent stadium. "They do sports better than anybody," said Robyn Schon, the Roanoke Civic Center's acting director.

Along with a reliable batch of events, there is Harveycutter, who has run the civic center for most of its life. He is known for being a careful spender with a keen understanding of what works in Salem.

"I like Carey and the way he does things," Roanoke Vice Mayor Sherman Lea said, as Roanoke considers turning its civic center over to private management. "Maybe we can bring him in so he can oversee both."

That said, the Salem Civic Center has not been immune to harmful trends in the business, including stagnant ticket sales and a down economy that can discourage patrons. Only five to six concerts are expected to happen at the arena this year, Harveycutter said. Last year, Billy Ray Cyrus, Kenny Rogers and Ricky Skaggs all failed to draw 2,000 fans.

A private operator at the Roanoke Civic Center could chase events more aggressively, though Harveycutter said he expected relations between the two centers to remain cordial.

"The vast majority of events do not choose between Salem and Roanoke but between Salem-Roanoke and other areas in the region," he wrote in an e-mail.

Lastly, the Salem Civic Center turns 41 this month, and its facilities are showing their age. Its climate systems and kitchen need an update, Boggess said, along with some general maintenance. Salem schools are first in line for improvements, but the city manager said the building was one of the city's top three priorities for multimillion-dollar capital investment in the next decade.

And it's still good enough for country music. Jason Aldean plays at the civic center on Nov. 14.