(can't find any previous thread - though this comes up elsewhere)



The Cleveland Plain Dealer ran a feature on convention centers the other week comparing square feet and funding sources. IMO - St. Louis could greatly expand their convention capacity downtown and further support hotel expansion and downtown retail. They could expand into the Bottle District site or wait until the Dome may relocate and expand there. As expected, St. Louis is hamstrung for funding since it's unlikely the county would support increased taxes for expansion and the city doesn't (and won't) produce enough revenue to expand.



Cincinnati:

750,000 sq ft

Cincinnati and Hamilton County hotel bed tax, naming rights, additional city and county funding, $5M+ in state funds, $10M from local business



Columbus:

1,700,000 sq ft

~5% hotel bed tax in city and county



Detroit:

2,400,000 sq ft

Macomb, Wayne and Oakland County hotel tax and statewide hard liquor tax



Indianapolis:

1,200,000 sq ft

Marion County hotel tax, food and beverage tax, rental car tax, 1% food and beverage tax in six surrounding counties



Milwaukee:

687,000 sq ft

city and county hotel, rental car, food and beverage tax



Philadelphia:

1,300,000 sq ft

slot machine revenue



Pittsburgh:

1,450,000 sq ft

county hotel bed tax, $149M in state funds, $4M from local foundations





and finally . . .



St. Louis:

502,000 (including Dome)

city hotel and restaurant tax

Wow, I had no idea we were that far behind.

Grover wrote: Detroit:

2,400,000 sq ft

Macomb, Wayne and Oakland County hotel tax and statewide hard liquor tax

Wow, three counties collaborating instead of having one decide to build its own competing convention center.

Thats very interesting..........I wonder if the lack of sq footage has eliminated us from a significant portion of convention business? From what I remember we have attracted some of the largest conventions around including the NRA and IIRC the baptist convention (both 50K+). It seems like one of the most mentioned factors for attracting conventions is number of hotel rooms, which certainly bodes well for us.

^ that's because that is just our prime exhibit space...here's more info

2.7 million square feet covering 32 acres in the heart of downtown St. Louis.

Prime Exhibit Space: 502,000 square feet

Meeting Rooms: 83

Ballroom Size: 28,000 square feet

The largest in Missouri and the largest between Chicago and Dallas. Can accommodate up to 2,230 people for banquets



Ferrara Theatre Seating:



1,411 fixed seats

State-of-the-art audio-visual capabilities.

from explorestlouis.com

^ I believe all sq ft's reflect only prime exhibit space. Or the Cleveland Plain-Dealer is lazy. Seriously, I'm more than happy to give them a call and ask for a retraction if this is their mistake.

Doug wrote:^It is an example of the regionalism we lack in pretty much every aspect.

Maybe so, but beyond that example, I wouldn't say Detroit necessarily embraces regionalism more than St. Louis.



The convention center is a remarkable exception to the rule, but from all the accounts I've seen and heard, there's much more of a divide between city and suburbs in Greater Detroit than most metropolitan areas, even Greater St. Louis.

I find it hard to believe that Columbus' convention center is more than three times the size of ours. Does that Morgan Quinto guy work at the Plain Dealer?

Columbus:

1,700,000 sq ft

1.7 million square foot facility, including 426,000 square feet of exhibit space, two ballrooms, and 61 meeting rooms.[1]

wikipedia.



So, clearly ours is 2.7 million or 500,000 sf of EXHIBIT space.. someone needs to write a letter to the Plain Dealer.

JCity wrote:

Columbus:

1,700,000 sq ft

1.7 million square foot facility, including 426,000 square feet of exhibit space, two ballrooms, and 61 meeting rooms.[1]

wikipedia.



So, clearly ours is 2.7 million or 500,000 sf of EXHIBIT space.. someone needs to write a letter to the Plain Dealer.

I'm on it.

I wonder if any of the others are wrong as well?

What I found on the Greater Columbus Convention Center from their very own website and Wiki. I have family in Columbus, OH and been there many times. From what I remember its not as big as ours.



The Greater Columbus Convention Center is a convention center located in downtown Columbus, Ohio, United States, along the east side of High Street.



The convention center was designed by Peter Eisenman, constructed in 1993, and expanded in 1999. Property management company SMG oversees day-to-day operations of the 1.7 million square foot facility, including 426,000 square feet of exhibit space, two ballrooms, and 61 meeting rooms



Dimensions & Specifications

Hall Name ft Dimensions (ft x ft) Seating Capacity Booths Overhead Clearance

Battelle Hall 90,000 207 x 314 / 207 x 120 7,500 321 33'

Hall C 98,000 270 x 360 8,000 530 30'

Hall D 118,000 330 x 360 8,000 630 30'

Hall E 61,980 298 x 208 302 30'

Hall F 45,660 207 x 237.5 206 30'

Hall C & D 216,000 600 x 360 16,000 1,160 30'

Hall E & F 118,900 505 x 237.5 687 30'

^That is a beautiful building.

That building definitely needs more space and upgrades.

Wow. There's the answer to an uninteresting question I had previously. The enclosed amusement park and monorail connected island known as Lotte World is 1,380,430 sq ft. This article states that "The convention center and Dome together are now about 500,000 square feet."

Does the expansion to 907,000 sq ft necessarily mean expansion into the bottle works area or could they build vertically?

Show of hands, who here has ever set foot in Baer Plaza? I have not. As long as the highway is there, that spot is wasted. They should build something there that doesn't block Broadway.

CarexCurator wrote:It says Draft but here is the report from yesterday.

http://media.bizj.us/view/img/8618732/merged.pdf

A $500 million investment and a dome dedicated only to conventions would certainly shatter all those bar graphs where Denver, Atlanta, and Nashville seem be on top.

Let's do it.

We need all of Missouri to be on board with this, though, or at least the counties in the St. Louis Metro Area.