Most of the increase has been at the restaurant there, said Gene Ammons, the owner, but there have been some overnight guests for Crown events. Ammons was surprised but pleased. Not that the Crown hasn't been successful. In November, the civic center complex that the coliseum anchors made a profit for the first time. The Crown drew a record hockey game crowd of 4,911 on Jan. 9.
Backers say that is a big plus in itself.
And these people are making earnings that they didn't have before. Evans said it is too early to tell if merchants will get a boost from the Crown. I still think they will. Other backers say the business boom could be invisible forever. It might always be hard to measure the Crown's effect on local business.