Is It Time to Stop Building Convention Centers? from Atlantic Cities
Atlantic Cities covered this problem last year, in an article titled: Is It Time to Stop Building Convention Centers?
The highlights:
“Over the last 20 years, convention space in the United States has increased by 50 percent; since 2005, 44 new convention spaces have been planned or constructed in this country alone. That boom hasn’t come cheap. In the last ten years, spending on convention centers has doubled to $2.4 billion annually, much of it from public coffers.”
“But there’s a problem with this building bonanza, and it’s a doozy: There aren’t really enough conventions to go around. The actual number of conventions hosted in the U.S. has fallen over the last decade. Attendance at the 200 largest conventions peaked at about 5 million in the mid-1990s and has fallen steadily since then.”
“”So many were saying, ‘all you have to do is get one percent of the national market and you’ll do just fine,'” he says. “Three hundred cities bought the same logic.””
It seems like investing in a convention hotel would result in losing more money faster.
And from a discussion on a Minneapolis scheme to subsidize a 1,000 room convention hotel:
The fact that the massive subsidy in the convention center hasn’t come close to paying for itself should be enough to say no to subsidies. If a hotel like this costs $125M in subsidies (41% of the total construction costs), one would assume it would bring in a heck of a lot in local economic impact, right? If bonded, that’s $7.16M per year over 30 years for the state/city. To recoup that investment in sales tax (just break even), that’s convention guests spending $92M per year on food, shows, etc (assuming the current Minneapolis/Hennepin/MN sales tax rate of 7.775%). If you assumed that hotel was full with 1,000 people every day of the year (and that other hotels in the area maintained their demand as well), they would need to spend $252 a day on food and other taxable items for the public to recoup their investment. Good luck.
http://www.theatlanticcities.com/politics/2012/06/stop-building-convention-centers/2210/
Taxpayers should question convention hotel hype: Guest opinion
By Paige Richardson
Tourism boosters in Baltimore had a can’t-miss idea. If taxpayers only poured huge subsidies — including hundreds of millions in bonds backed by hotel revenues — into building a convention center hotel, Baltimore would experience a boom in convention business that would generate jobs, revenue and economic prosperity for city residents.
But as the Baltimore Business Journal recently pointed out, “Baltimore built it, but they didn’t come.” Now their hotel is having trouble paying off its bonds and has lost $65.1 million since it opened in the summer of 2008.
In St. Louis, boosters had the same idea, spending millions in public money on the construction of a convention center hotel, which opened to much fanfare in 2003. Despite rosy projections by experts, it is now in foreclosure because hotel revenues were insufficient to pay its debt service. Again, it’s local taxpayers who are the big losers.
In Charlotte, N.C., taxpayers ponied up millions for the construction of a convention hotel there, but convention bookings quickly “receded to levels before the hotel opened,” according to an article in the Charlotte Observer. The list of midsize cities with failed and struggling convention center hotels — paid for with massive infusions of taxpayer dollars — goes on and on.
Now, starry-eyed tourism boosters in Portland want to repeat the same mistakes made by these other cities. And they want to spend your money to do it.
Metro is in the process of cutting a sweetheart deal to offer millions in public subsidies to get an international hotel chain to build a hotel next to our convention center.
Despite the fact that Metro is only now beginning, after months of stonewalling, to release any details about the terms of the agreement, our Legislature has gone ahead and diverted $10 million in lottery proceeds to back this cozy arrangement for a profitable out-of-state hotel chain and private developers.
Metro plans to issue $60 million or more in public bonds to pay for hotel construction, which with interest will add up to more than $100 million by the time they’re repaid. That’s outrageous enough, but the subsidies don’t stop there. Another $4 million in taxpayer funds is being given to the developers by Metro, as well as a $4 million loan from the city.
Don’t worry, says Metro. The bonds will be paid off with increased tax revenue from the new hotel. But newly released details about the deal between Metro and Hyatt still don’t provide clarity about who pays if the hotel comes up short — a very real possibility given the spotty track record of these sorts of ventures here and in comparable cities. So far, it seems public dollars will be on the hook. At a time when we are struggling to pay for basic public services, that’s a risk we can’t afford.
If the hotel makes money, the owners get to reap the profit; if it loses money, taxpayers foot the bill. Heads they win, tails we lose. Does that sound like a good deal to you?
Local officials currently considering this flawed hotel proposal need to think twice about whose interests they were elected to serve. Our legislators should have known better than to ignore basic principles of transparency and good governance by appropriating millions in public money before Metro made any effort to gather public input about the deal it has cooked up behind closed doors.
Now it’s the turn of local officials. They should put this bad idea to rest before local taxpayers are left holding the bag for the latest “trust us, this can’t miss” boondoggle.
Source: Coalition for Fair Budget Priorities
Facebook Art Ripoff by “Citizens of Evansville for a new Downtown Hotel” Removed
Last night as was pointed in this mornings IS IT TRUE a group supporting the public funding of a downtown convention hotel blatantly stole the artwork of an existing Facebook site called “Citizens of Evansville Against a Taxpayer Funded Hotel” and reconfigured it for their own agenda. After having this theft pointed out repeatedly in comment sections and being called out in the City County Observer the “Citizens of Evansville for a new downtown convention hotel” has changed their cover photo to an aerial view of the City of Evansville. The ripoff evidence is still on their page but it does indicate that it was changed by whomever the administrator is. You may view the pages by cutting and pasting the following links into your browser.
https://www.facebook.com/EvansvilleSaysNo
https://www.facebook.com/EvansvilleSaysYes
VANDERBURGH COUNTY FELONY CHARGES
Below is a list of felony cases that were filed by the Vanderburgh County Prosecutor’s Office on Monday, August 19, 2013.
Mario Butler Dealing in a Schedule IV Controlled Substance-Class C Felony
Alanna McNeal Operating a Vehicle While Intoxicated Endangering a Person with a
Passenger Less than 18 Years of Age-Class D Felony
Donald Robb Unlawful Possession of a Firearm by a Serious Violent Felon-
Class B Felony
Battery Resulting in Bodily Injury-Class A Misdemeanor
(Habitual Offender Enhancement)
Eric Toone Dealing in a Schedule III Controlled Substance-Class B Felony
Possession of Marijuana-Class A Misdemeanor
(Enhanced to D Felony Due to Prior Convictions)
Possession of Paraphernalia-Class A Misdemeanor
Fabian Bennett Felony Carrying a Handgun-Class C Felony
Possession of Marijuana-Class A Misdemeanor
(Habitual Offender Enhancement)
Ukuru Stell Unlawful Possession of a Firearm by a Serious Violent Felon-
Class B Felony
For further information on the cases listed above, or any pending case, please contact Kyle Phernetton at 812.435.5688 or via e-mail at KPhernetton@vanderburghgov.org
Under Indiana law, all criminal defendants are considered to be innocent until proven guilty by a court of law.
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AWARENESS CANDLELIGHT VIGIL
On Tuesday, October 01 at 6:30 p.m. a Candlelight Vigil will be held to kick off Domestic Violence Awareness Month. The Vigil will be held at Four Freedoms Monument in Downtown Evansville to honor victims and survivors of domestic violence and to raise awareness of the growing problem in our community and in the State of Indiana.
The vigil is being organized by the Evansville-Vanderburgh Commission on
Domestic and Sexual Violence in collaboration with Albion Fellows Bacon Center, the YWCA, Holly’s House, Lampion Center and the Vanderburgh County Prosecutor’s Office Victim/Witness Assistance Program.
In the last year, several local women have died in alleged domestic violence incidents. In 2012, 64 people died in the state of Indiana due to domestic violence. As part of an alarming national trend, Albion Fellows Bacon Center and the YWCA, both local domestic violence agencies, report that domestic violence continues to increase locally. This increase significantly affects the safety of women in Evansville and the surrounding area.
This crime is a community issue. Community representatives will speak out at the candlelight vigil and encourage our community to step up and do their part to help end domestic violence as well as remind victims where to receive services and find assistance.
For further information on this event or services from any of the aforementioned organizations, please contact Kyle Phernetton, Director of Public Relations with the Vanderburgh County Prosecutor’s Office at 812.435.5688 or via e-mail at kphernetton@vanderburghgov.org.
Troopers Recognized at Ceremony
Last week ten Indiana State Police officers were recognized in Indianapolis by Superintendent Douglas Carter for their resolute dedication and appointment to the department’s Underwater Search Rescue/Recovery Team (USRT). The scuba team members had recently completed their six month probationary period as divers and received their uniform pins from Superintendent Carter, designating them as USRT members.
Superintendent Carter addressed the new diver’s with heartfelt emotion and respect. The superintendent started his diving career with the state police in 1986 when he attended the state police Basic Underwater Dive School (BUDS). The superintendent recalled completing the school the hardest thing that he had ever done and respected the divers for their dedication to the program.
The state police BUDS program started in 1960 with 14 men that were sent to a six day scuba school. The program his since evolved into a 24 day school where more than 25 dives are completed combined with 40 hours of classroom work.
USRT Commander Sgt. Alan Lowrance commented that the divers leaving the BUDS program today are well equipped with the knowledge and skills needed to safely navigate the often dangerous waters of public safety diving. Public safety divers often dive in less than ideal conditions including zero visibility and entanglement hazards, commented Lowrance.
Today the state police have 35 divers on the USRT stationed around Indiana to respond to various types of water related incidents including evidence recovery, drowning, and swift water rescue.
New divers
Tpr. Caleb Clark – Peru
Tpr. Christopher Lockman – Seymour
Tpr. Richard Clay – Pendleton
Tpr. Eric Meyer – Wolcottville
Tpr. Andy Cochran – Warsaw
Tpr. Ryan Royer – Lafayette
Tpr. Adam Duffitt – Kokomo
Tpr. Zachary Smith – Henryville
Tpr. Matthew Lazoff – Hudson
Tpr. Skyler Whittington – Pendleton
“1964” …The Tribute coming to Victory Theatreâ€
“The best Beatles tribute on Earth,†according to Rolling Stone magazine. 1964…The Tribute has been captivating Beatles audiences since the early 1980’s, catapulting fans back to Beatlemania with their replication of the classic Beatle sound, look and stage presence. With over twenty years of performing experience, 1964…The Tribute has become one of the most recognized tributes to the Beatles era in the country.
1964… The Tribute in Evansville, IN will feature the following performers: Mark Benson, Graham
Alexander, Tom Work, and Bobby Porter.
Victory Theatre
600 Main St.
Evansville, IN 47708
Friday, October 4, 2013 at 8:00 PM
INFO: Tickets go on sale Friday, August 23 at 10:00 AM (Central). Tickets may be purchased at http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/05004B0F891343C7, by calling 800.745.3000 or by visiting the Ford Center Ticket Office at 1 S.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Evansville, IN 47708 between the hours of 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM (Central), Monday – Friday.
Indiana State Police Investigate Fatal Crash on I-64
Posey County – Monday afternoon, August 19, at approximately 12:25 p.m., Indiana State Police and Posey County Sheriff’s Department responded to a single vehicle crash on I-64 at the 4 mile-marker that killed a 69-year-old Kansas woman and her pet dog.
Preliminary investigation revealed Edwina Cabe, 69, of Overland Park, KS, was driving her 2002 Chevrolet pickup truck westbound on I-64 at the 4 mile-marker when for unknown reasons her vehicle left the roadway on the south side striking the guardrail then crossing both westbound lanes striking the north side guardrail. The vehicle then crossed both lanes again striking the concrete barrier and coming to a final rest in the passing lane. Cabe, who was wearing a seat belt, was pronounced dead at the scene by the Posey County Coroner’s Office. Cabe’s pet dog was also killed in the crash.
The investigation is continuing.