Successful Meetings - September 2008 - (Page 48) Convention > Where All That Glitters May Bring Gold Centers Carolina State University, and Duke University, became the monster that ate Raleigh meetings. Some 35,000 people work in the Research Triangle area, and it sucked not only air but also most development and events out of the urban centers. In the mid-1990s, however, Raleigh decided to be a player again. It announced a downtown revitalization program that was to begin with a new convention center. As time went on, the performing arts center was built with the gracious 1930s-era Memorial Auditorium as its centerpiece, and the museums were developed as well. Various other sports venues and museums went up, and several miles outside the city center the arena now called the RBC Center was erected, to host the Carolina Hurricanes ice hockey team and college meeting news 4-16-07 REVcra.ai basketball. But the convention center, supposedly the first piece of the revitalization puzzle, wasn’t built. Few believed in it; there simply was no faith in meetings and conventions as income generators. A referendum to finance a new center was defeated, but the other projects moved ahead with earmarked funds. Plans for a new center languished. And a good thing, too, Krupa says. “If we had built the convention center 10 years ago, it would have been a disaster,” he says. Building a center first, without the hotels and infrastructure to attract and support conventions, would have created just one more of the typical white-elephant boxes that so many communities around the country are saddled with these days, he explains. 2:40:00 PM Meanwhile, a center-less Raleigh was enjoying a building boom. Increasing numbers of young professionals were moving into new housing downtown, and the city committed to spending $20 million to help finance the new Marriott (with the remaining $65 million coming from Noble Investment Group). Onlookers credit Mayor Charles Meeker, elected in 2001, with having a more favorable view of the possibilities of convention business, and for freeing up funding. Meanwhile the local lodging community agreed to kick in a 6 percent bed tax to fund a 30-year bond for a new center. Raleigh’s old 1950s-era facility, used solely for public shows, was imploded in 2006, and the new facility began to rise. The city was ready to move forward with a new-found commitment to meetings business. 2/19/07 http://www.VisitGreensboroNC.com http://www.VisitGreensboroNC.com
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