The circus will come to the District in 2008, but not to the D.C. Armory.
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus and the D.C. Armory will cut ties after a last week of performances April 11-15, closing out a 33-year run. The D.C. Sports & Entertainment Commission, which operates the Armory and RFK Stadium, is losing money on the annual visit from “The Greatest Show on Earth,” commission staff said Wednesday.
The circus recently trimmed its stay at the Armory from two weeks to one, slashing its moneymaking potential, officials said.
In any case, a new floor installed over the summer at the 10,000-seat facility wasn’t designed for lions and bears and elephants, though one more week shouldn’t cause any damage so long as the floor is covered, said Ollie Harper, the commission’s director of facility operations.
Ringling Bros., owned by Vienna-based Feld Entertainment, appears each year at the Armory, the Verizon Center and the Patriot Center in Fairfax. Irvin Feld, who bought the circus in 1967, first brought Ringling Bros. to the Armory on April 2, 1974, said Melinda Rosser, Feld Entertainment spokeswoman.
“The building is outdated but we’ve got these other venues to go where we can bring these shows to the D.C. metro area,” Rosser said.
The Armory’s new oak floor has a high gloss, chestnut color and is designed for multiple uses, but not necessarily for five-ton pachyderms.
