Bonds for America’s Center Finally Set to Proceed
Date Posted: October 11, 2019
Posted In: Projects,
From The St. Louis American: Back in the 1990s, the America’s Center Convention Complex in downtown St. Louis was regularly booking conventions that drew 17,000 people. And Darryl Jones, an African-American business owner who co-manages the food service for the complex, was hiring about 2,000 people for these events. For a four-day convention of this size, some of his associates would walk away with $4,500 to $5,000. It also meant that hotel rooms would be booked-up, and would also hire additional workers.
“That’s the type of economic impact you want to happen,” Jones said. “That money is going to turn over in the community.”
But for several years now, event planners have been passing over St. Louis for other cities. The America’s Center doesn’t have that “popping” vibe that millennial planners are looking for, Jones said.
Jones and others in the hospitality industry have been looking forward to the plans for a $175-million expansion to the convention complex, which received the final funding approval it needed in the spring. The convention center complex is responsible for generating $265 million in economic spending for the St. Louis region, according to the city’s comptroller.
However, the project has since stalled out at the “one yard line,” and the hospitality and construction industry are not happy, Jones said.
The City of St. Louis and St. Louis County currently pay a combined $12 million annually on the debt used to construct The Dome that is connected to the convention center – and the State of Missouri matches it with $12 million. However, those commitments expire in 2021, and the expansion could only move forward if both the city and county agree to continue making those $6 million annual payments. Both the county and city have passed the necessary legislation, but the problem now lies in the political struggle over the bond process.
In short, Comptroller Darlene Green has been the primary mover on convention center-related bonds since 1997, she said, and she was elected to have oversight of the city’s credit rating. Mayor Lyda Krewson initially questioned the cost of Green’s bond process, according to her chief of staff, and wanted to switch that process over to the St. Louis Development Corporation.