BUFFALO (WBEN - Brendan Keany) - Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz updated the public on the findings of the recent 90-day public comment period regarding a convention center.
County Executive Mark Poloncarz discussing the findings of the 90-public comment period on the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center. The county received 668 responses, and the results were pretty overwhelming. pic.twitter.com/zZGRGacYfz
— WBEN NewsRadio 930AM (@NewsRadio930)
March 13, 2019 "Eighty-six-percent of those who responded directly to the question support an investment in saying we should stay in the convention and visitors business and we need to invest in our facility, or build a new one," said Poloncarz. "Then, there were 14-percent against."
Poloncarz also noted that a further analysis pointed to two locations as a possibility for a potential convention center.
"We issued the report that looked at multiple sites and then drilled down and identified five semi-finalists, and then to the extent, two finalists, saying that if we do stay in the convention and visitors business, you have the option of basically two locations," he said.
"We still have over $350,000 in a bonded account that is set specifically to be used for studies for a convention center, and our goal is to go out by the end of this month with an RFP to hire a consultant to do a strong, deep analysis to both sites and the current facility," said Poloncarz.
While Kaler is excited about the idea of a new or revamped convention center, he noted that the process is still in its very beginning stages.
"There's still a long way to; there's so much more information that needs to be studied that will be important for the next steps to heopefully bring a new convention center to our community," he said. "I think we are on the brink point for really doing some fantastic things in our community, and one of the things is meetings, conventions and events in our destination. What's holding us back right now is our convention center. As we reported back in September that we have lost 783 pieces of business over the last five years due to the small nature of the convention center as well as the physical nature of the convention center itelf."
Poloncarz also outlined a specific timeline of events for the next step of the process:- Issue the RFP by the end of March
- Have proposals due by late April
- Select a consultant by late May
- Have legislative approval of the consultant by early June
- Consultant work from mid-June to mid-December
- Receive final report by late December
"This would be a pretty condensed and compressed timeline for this type of analysis," said Poloncarz. "I think it's important that we send the message that we want to saty in the convention and visitors business. It's always disappointing to hear we lose business, and as Patrick knows, we meet quarterly - the reports I get show all the new business won but alos new business lost, so to speak, and we talk about that. We've heard over the years the issues about a convention center. I hate losing new business, but I guess I'm willing to do it in the short run if in the long run we get something that guarantees that we're going to get a lot of new business in the long run."
