In July Redding's City Council, approved the appointment of a privatization committee to consider the pros and cons of privatizing or outsourcing city services. The Redding Convention Center is one of the facilities on the list for privatization or outsourcing.
Today, September 17th, at 4:00 PM there will be a Special Meeting in the Community Room at the Redding City Hall to discuss privatizing the Redding Convention Center.
There are two possible courses of action, both with substantial implications for Non-Profit and Community Organizations. Non profits use the convention center and pay less to utilize the facility, it's part of the concept called: the public good that the City subsidizes the use for these organizations.
1. The biggest worry is that if the Convention Center is privatized, the fees will be so high that the Non-Profits will not be able to afford to rent the facilities.
2 The other option that is being considered is tearing down the Auditorium because of the drain on the city budget ($900,000 per year).
Rumors abound regarding who is behind the push to privatize or tear it down. Some argue that it's driven by a fight over TOT funds. This argument suggests that local hoteliers want all the TOT money for themselves and that they want the Convention Center torn down. I checked with a local hotel owner who indicated that the hotel association has not made any recommendations as to the convention center that he knows of.
Some believe that the McConnell Foundation is behind it and that privatizing or tearing it down will afford the Foundation the opportunity to swoop in and purchase the land for development purposes.
As background, the convention center was built years ago as a public asset and was never intended to be a profit center. Because some of the members of the committee think the convention center should be profitable, they keep asking questions about why the convention center is an economic black hole.
Cities build convention centers so that people who live in other communities have a reason to come to their city. Think of San Francisco, Las Vegas or New Orleans where tourism is a major revenue generator for those communities. To make a convention center work, there has to be a major airport to get the people in and out of the city. In Redding, there is no airport to facilitate even 100 people coming into town, most of the flights are already booked with local citizens needing to get a connecting flight and business people who need to fly in and out of Redding.
Does it make sense to close the convention center? It depends on how you look at it. If there is a need to have the operation break even, it never will. The building was intended to be a gathering spot for community events that were bigger than the Veterans Hall next to the Post Office downtown and possibly bringing people from the outlying areas to spend money in Redding. One needs to look at the schedule of events at the convention center to determine if the building is still relevant; and that is a community decision.
In any event, today's meeting is a significant one, one that members of the community need to be involved in. Be there if you can, make your voice heard!
I am Kate Bourland. I help my clients get out of debt and establish a debt free lifestyle. You can reach me at 530-419-3967.
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