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St. Charles has one of the largest historic districts in
the Midwest and the St. Charles Convention Center is expected
to revitalize this part of town. |
THE NEXT LEVEL
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WITH LANDSLIDE
VICTORY, ST. CHARLES MOVES TO TAKE TOURISM TO THE NEXT LEVEL.
BY KEVIN KIPP
Labor was for it. The chamber of commerce was for it. The City Council
was for it. The mayor was for it. And after 12 years of wrangling
over where it should go, apparently St. Charles citizens were for
it.
Responding to spirited debate and an active campaign, almost 11,000
voters approved a non-binding resolution on February 4 to participate
with the St. Charles County Convention & Sports Facilities Authority
in the construction and operation of the St. Charles Convention
Center.
Ayes: 60.29 percent. Nays: 39.71 percent. By their assent, the governed
accepted:
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$12 million in hotel-motel tax proceeds collected by the
Convention Authority since the early ’90s, and earmarked
for a convention center somewhere in the county.
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$4 million in state money approved in the mid-’90s
for a convention center somewhere in the county.
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$40 million of private investment in a convention hotel,
a deal that is unusual anywhere in any county.
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The $32.5 million,
148,000-square-foot facility will go up on 21 acres along the south
side of Interstate 70. The hotel will be a 300-room Embassy Suites,
financed by John Q. Hammons Hotels & Resorts, based in Springfield,
Mo. The architect is Peckham Guyton Albers & Viets. The construction
manager is Paric. And the facility manager is Global Spectrum.
“At this point we don’t know who Hammons will select to manage the
construction of his portion of the project,” says Ken Kielty, a
Missouri Department of Revenue license fee agent, and member of
the Convention Authority.
What Kielty does know is that the project “is an economic catalyst
for St. Charles, the city and the county, and the surrounding counties.”
ED
PUNDMANN
president,
Pundmann Ford
co-chair of the referendum effort |
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He says construction of the convention center alone would create
500 jobs for two years, “and then there’s the hotel to build.”
Ed Pundmann, president of Pundmann Ford and one of the co-chairs
of the referendum effort (along with Ernie Dempsey, owner of Pio’s
Restaurant, and Jerry Feldhaus, executive secretary-treasurer for
the Building Trades Council), says, “Once it’s up and running, we’re
expecting the convention center to create 1,100 jobs. And over time,
it’s going to be the spark to revitalize a part of town that’s been
underdeveloped.”
Moreover, Pundmann says, visiting conventioneers “will mean more
business for Main Street, restaurants, hotels—here and in St. Louis
County—Bass Pro Shop, and the casinos [Harrah’s and Ameristar].
Of course all of that means more city revenue.”
One hand washes the other, and all those beneficiaries are also
drawing cards for convention planners. “I have nothing against Wichita
or Peoria,” Kielty says, “but St. Charles has one of the largest
historic districts in the Midwest with a lot of heritage and Americana
charm. And we’re just 10 minutes from a major airport. And 30 minutes
from major league sports and world-class culture.”
Steve Powell, director of the Greater St. Charles Convention & Visitors
Bureau, has been in touch with the Hammons organization over the
last three years on this and other matters. He says, “Hammons wouldn’t
be building in St. Charles without the convention center, but he
liked how close this site is to the airport.”
STEVE POWELL
director,
Greater St. Charles Convention & Visitors Bureau
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Powell, who markets all that heritage and Americana charm to out-of-towners,
says it also contributed to landing the hotel. “The convention center
will only fill about 45 percent of his rooms, so he needs a solid
base of attractions in addition to conventions.”
Whatever Hammons’ reasons, Pundmann is delighted. “Albuquerque built
a hotel for Hammons out of city coffers,” he says. “Here he built
it with his own money. That’s an enormous vote of confidence when
private enterprise is willing to invest that kind of money in the
overall project.”
Kielty says the St. Charles facility will serve a “regional market,
topping out at around 1,000 participants. It might be one event
or four of 250 simultaneously. At full throttle, by 2010 or 2012,
we’d hope to have 280 to 300 events a year.
He says responsibility for bringing those home will be “a joint
effort, combining Global Spectrum staff, a Hilton Corporation team
of experts in partnership with Hammons, and the CVB, which is widely
regarded as one of the best tourism operations in the Midwest.”
Powell welcomes the challenge. “The convention center takes us to
the next level in the tourism industry: the meeting and convention
market. Currently we do primarily leisure and group tours in heritage-
and eco-tourism. We dabble in the convention and meeting marketing,
but last year we identified 39 pieces of business that we could
have had if this facility were in existence.”
Powell says he already has “16 strong leads ready to book into the
center. Just these pieces of business will mean more than $10 million
in economic impact.”
The biggest deal, and signed, is the Lincoln, Neb.-based Central
States Shrine Association, which will hold its annual convention—6,000
Shriners from seven states; 12,000 room nights in St. Charles in
2006. “They’ll hold their national convention in St. Louis in 2008,
but we’ll send some business to the Riverport and Westport hotels
with our little regional event.”
Local organizations are responding, too. For instance, National
Information Solutions Cooperative, a St. Peters-based provider of
software to rural electric and telecommunication cooperatives, will
hold its annual member conferences—visitors from 46 states, 3,600
room nights—at the St. Charles Convention Center.
Powell says his pursuit of government-related, association and corporate
events will not compete with downtown St. Louis: “We’re looking
at 166 meetings in our first year of operation, opening in February
2005. Conventions, trade shows, banquets, everything from a dozen
to 500 people. In fact, we can accommodate 2,500 for banquets.
“But it comes down to this: The St. Charles Convention Center offers
small town flavor, big city amenities, tremendous value and great
service.”
The ayes have it.
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A rendering of the St. Charles Convention Center,
scheduled to open in February 2005. |
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Kevin Kipp runs Bubble Communications, a creative services and
community relations firm in St. Charles.
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