Comments on: Wichita’s pursuit of convention business: a wise strategy?

By: Pat

Pat — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 03:22:25 +0000

Karen, thank you for your on-going support of the arena and C2. I would agree that we need to be very careful and make sure that when we, the city, offer public incentives that it is done so prudently. I’m not sure that any of us can say one way or another that a hotel would be built without the incentives. We only know that one hasn’t over the history of the project.

By: Karen in Delano

Karen in Delano — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 23:09:45 +0000

Pat: True, I have to admit I brought the article up in the context of the arena, rather than Century II… and that I didn’t push for a lot of discussion because, well, the arena was a done deal by then, so it was too late to debate whether it was really a good idea.

Being as how we can’t exactly ship it back for a refund, we certainly ought to support it (and the Century II complex as well), but I still have my doubts about the necessity of the tax break; it certainly looked like a hotel was likely to be built regardless, assuming the figures Goody Clancy bandied about were accurate.

And we have to draw the line at some point… after all, we spent tax money on the arena with the notion it would “pay for itself” in secondary business and tax growth. If we turn right around and exempt those secondary businesses from taxation, that seems a bit counter-productive.

By: Betty Sue

Betty Sue — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 19:19:08 +0000

I read the’ powers that be ‘approved the subsidy to the proposed hotel this morning;
WHAT A WASTE OF TAXPAYER DOLLARS,I,for one,do not appreciate MY money being spent to subsidize a hotel;if they want a build a hotel,let them do it,but not on the backs of taxpayers!

By: Pat

Pat — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 17:18:15 +0000

I’m with you Lonny.

By: Rothbard

Rothbard — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 16:38:06 +0000

The “Gunvernment Subsidy Express” is what needs to stop.

By: LonnythePlumber

LonnythePlumber — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 13:38:12 +0000

The “Stop Wichita Express” needs to stop. We need the jobs, income and economic activity. The delaying and stopping projects like the Bass Pro Shop and then complaining that nothing is getting done is counter productive. Let Wichita Go.

By: KipSchroeder

KipSchroeder — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 03:07:38 +0000

Each year, the company I work for assembles over 15,000 of our 70,000 employees in a large convention based city (San Francisco, Las Vegas, Orlando, etc.). Last year the decision was made to forego the large gathering and instead meet virtually. The indirect interaction was so successful the CEO emphatically stated that we would never return to such large physical gatherings. The world is changing.

By: Pat

Pat — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 01:41:01 +0000

Karen, good article. The only thing that this blog and that particular article don’t really cover is the the demand/competition/potential for Wichita’s targeted groups. Some of those facilities that are referenced are 10x the size of Century 2. It’s kind of like the NBAA convention. There are only a couple of facilities in the country that can handle an event that size. It would be interesting to see if Go Wichita has a business plan that identified the market that Wichita is trying to go after. Some are state conventions in scope. Some are probably regional and some national.

By: Karen in Delano

Karen in Delano — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 17:40:24 +0000

I don’t know that it’s reached the level of “discussion,” but I’ve frequently pointed folks to this Next American City article (which heavily references Mr. Sanders’ work): http://americancity.org/magazine/article/unconventional-thinking/

NAC also addresses the whole arena-neighborhood issue, which pretty much nails Wichita’s situation.