CHARLESTON, W.Va. — City officials believe that the new naming partnership on the former Charleston Civic Center will be great for the entire region.
Local leaders gathered with Vandalia Health officials on Tuesday to announce that the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center will become the Vandalia Health Center. That announcement was not fully embraced by the Capital City community, with some on social media expressing displeasure with the name change. The partnership among the city of Charleston, the Oak View Group, and Vandalia, is for ten years. Vandalia will pay a little under $1 million annually during the agreement.
Matt Sutton, chief of staff for Charleston Mayor Amy Shuler Goodwin, joined “580 Live” with Dave Allen on Wednesday to outline why the partnership makes sense. Sutton said that the coliseum and Vandalia’s values align well. Since the venue underwent nearly $98 million in renovation work eight years ago, Sutton said the “next logical step” was to identify a naming partner.
Sutton said that efforts to bring large conferences or big shows to Charleston are challenging with the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center name. He said without a brand, the venue can seem “a little bit smaller.”
“It can seem like it’s not part of the bigger thing,” Sutton explained. “So, having a large entity who is one of the largest healthcare providers in the state, the largest employer in our city, put their brand and their reputation behind our building, gives us that legitimacy. Not only in our own market, but throughout the entire country, that people will start to take notice and realize that Charleston is this destination for entertainment and for conventions that we’ve shown to become.”
Sutton said that the naming rights partnership takes the venue “to the next level” both locally and nationally.
“This is about not only the name for a local perspective and the 750,000 people who set foot a year through the Coliseum and Convention Center, the millions upon millions that drive on the interstate and we’ll see the signage,” Sutton said. “But really, when you start to look at it, it gains a level of respect.”
Vandalia Health currently has $300 million in active projects happening across the region. Sutton said their investments in the community are great to see. He said that the previous name, the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center, was panned when it was unveiled in 2018. The Vandalia Health Center name is concise, he said, but the facility also has names for different areas.
“You have to be able to balance what people can call it,” Sutton said. “Also from a sales perspective and from a marketing perspective, we have the Vandalia Health Center, but we also have the Vandalia Health Coliseum and the Vandalia Health Convention Center. We have two separate portions to this building, with the overall name being the Vandalia Health Center. So, it really is an exciting time.”
Sutton said that in the long run, residents will understand the value of the partnership and the good it’ll do.
“I think once people get over the initial, ‘let’s see what’s happening online’ type look and realize not only the value it provides for us locally, having our largest employer and one of the largest investors, if not the largest investor in the city of Charleston, with their name on the building that represents the driving force behind our economy,” Sutton said.
Signage will be going up on the building before the beginning of 2027, according to Vandalia Health President and CEO Jeff Sandene. He said that they’re in the design phase now.
Sutton said everyone wins with this exciting new partnership.
“It’s a no-brainer for the city,” Sutton said. “It’s a no-brainer for Vandalia Health. But then when we look nationally, we now have this proof that, okay, this building is legitimate. This building is here to stay. They have somebody who’s willing to put their name, their brand, their reputation behind what this building stands for. Sky’s the limit for us moving forward.”