The organizers of two major trade shows have sued the operator of the shuttered I-X Center in a bid to force the venue to honor contracts that run through 2024.
The Automobile Dealers' Educational Assistance Foundation Inc., the group behind the Cleveland Auto Show, wants access to the facility and the ability, after 2021, to stage its show from late February to early March. In a lawsuit filed Dec. 8, the nonprofit business association also asks for at least $25,000 in damages, plus attorney fees and other costs.
The Great Lakes Recreational Vehicle Association filed a similar complaint Monday, Dec. 21, in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court. Though January's Ohio RV Supershow will be virtual, the organization still hopes to hold in-person events at the I-X Center in early 2022, 2023 and 2024.
The suits come three months after I-X Center Corp., the private operator of the city-owned building near Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, announced that it was shutting the doors. The mammoth event venue has been sitting quiet since March, when Ohio imposed restrictions on gatherings to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus.
The closure marked the end of a 35-year run for the I-X Center — and an abrupt breakup of an equally long relationship between the Greater Cleveland Automobile Dealers' Association and entrepreneur Ray Park, who has controlled the complex since the late 1970s.
Lou Vitantonio, the trade group's president, said the auto dealers have tried to talk to Park, with no success. He acknowledged that a February show is, at this point, impossible. But Vitantonio hasn't completely given up on 2021 — or, more importantly, the following years.
"It's not something that I like to do," he said of filing suit, "but we've got to have some conversation about what the plans are for the I-X Center, given the situation we're in."
Lisa Vo, I-X Center Corp.'s executive vice president, didn't return a phone call. A lawyer hired to represent I-X Center Corp. couldn't immediately be reached for comment.
The company controls the I-X Center through Aug. 31, 2024, with options to extend that term, under a lease with the city of Cleveland.
In the spring, I-X Center Corp. asked the city for rent relief, and the parties talked about terminating the lease. But the city said in November that those discussions had ended, since I-X Center Corp., an affiliate of the Park Corp. business conglomerate, was current on payments.
Although the I-X Center isn't hosting shows — and can't due to coronavirus-related regulations — it's not completely mothballed. In November, Crain's reported that GOJO, the maker of Purell hand sanitizer and other products, had leased 700,000 square feet of the complex for storage. The Akron-based manufacturer said that lease carries a two-year term.
That GOJO sublease, in a warehouse-like portion of the building, is a point of contention for the auto dealers and the RV association. Both lawsuits claim that GOJO's footprint includes space that the groups have exclusive rights to use for their shows.
In November, the auto dealers announced that they have postponed — but not outright canceled — their 2021 show. Vitantonio said he has had conversations about moving the show to the Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland downtown. But there's no deal in place.
"I just need to have some frank conversations about what's available to us and make a decision," he said, adding that he still thinks the I-X Center is the best location for the event that typically serves as the kickoff to the spring car sales season.
The 2020 auto show, which ran from Feb. 26 to March 7, attracted 348,424 attendees.
Amy Girton, executive director of the RV association, didn't respond to requests for comment.
At least one other event promoter is considering legal action.
Marketplace Events, the Solon-based company that puts on the Great Big Home and Garden Show, also has a contract with I-X Center Corp. that extends into 2024.
"I have great respect for Ray Park," Tom Baugh, the event company's CEO, wrote in an email. "He is an extraordinary man who has never sought credit for his significant contributions in supporting commerce in Northeast Ohio. Ray and I remain in regular communication regarding the future of shows at the I-X Center. To that end, Ray understands my fiduciary responsibility to Marketplace Events to keep all options open, including filing a lawsuit in the near future."
Marketplace Events canceled its early 2021 home and garden show due to the pandemic and announced that the next show, in March 2022, will occur downtown. In a November email to exhibitors, the company said it has permanently canceled its Cleveland Home and Remodeling Show, which also took place at the I-X Center.
The downtown convention center can accommodate only 65% of the home and garden show's exhibitors. It also lacks the abundant, low-cost parking that has made the I-X Center so attractive to producers of large consumer shows, whose patrons primarily arrive by car.
In September, those producers hoped that another operator might replace I-X Center Corp. and reopen the facility, despite speculation about alternative uses for the building and surrounding land. Now that it's clear I-X Center Corp. is maintaining control — and leasing out warehouse space — those promoters are pointing to their contracts with the company and asking what will happen once the pandemic recedes and public health restrictions relax.
"Ultimately, all any of us wants is to be able to do our shows still, as we contractually had planned," said Michelle Burke, president of the Lake Erie Marine Trades Association, which produces the Progressive Cleveland Boat Show and Fishing Expo.
The boat show's I-X Center contract also runs for another four years. Burke said she and her board aren't considering a lawsuit, but she's been reaching out to the I-X Center in hopes of getting clarity for 2022 and beyond.
She acknowledged that 2021 isn't a possibility — by no fault of the I-X Center's management, which is in the same situation as venue operators nationwide.
January's boat show already has been recast as an online event meant to drive traffic to local dealerships. Burke and other event producers have been pushing the state to allow trade shows to resume with coronavirus safety precautions. But the recent surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations has complicated that lobbying effort.
Although Burke is talking to the Huntington Convention Center about future boat shows, she still asserts the I-X Center is the best place for the large event.
"Huntington would like me to sign a contract for 2022," she said. "But considering that I still have a contract with the I-X Center, it throws a wrench in it."
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