City officials have about one month to find someone willing to help spend $1 million in federal funds or the money will remain in Washington, D.C.
The city received the grant in September to help finance a $12 million downtown performing arts center. That project, however, is on hold for a few years because Mayor George Stewart has been unable to secure the remaining funds.The $1 million grant, part of a community development block grant special projects bill, must be designated for another project in the next few weeks or Congress will rescind it.
"The current mood in Washington is they're looking everywhere they can to cut back so if we don't have a plan to utilize the money by the end of March we're probably going to lose it," Stewart said.
The mayor is hoping a private party will step forward and use the money to help finance a conference center in downtown Provo. Stewart, other local officials and business representatives have made the same cry for several years - Utah County is seriously lacking in quality conference facilities.
"If it's a big conference it is usually held out of town and out of the county," Stewart said.
The city is currently working with several parties in developing a plan to use the federal money to build the conference center. The center could be part of a hotel expansion project or could be built as a separate facility. The city wants the private party to contribute at least $1 million of its own to the project.
"We're trying to develop some plan to utilize that money, and I think we'll be able to announce something pretty soon," Stewart said.
Orem and national hotelier John Q. Hammons are currently working together to build a new hotel and conference center near the mouth of Provo Canyon. Stewart said both facilities are needed.
The city's original plan was to build a performing arts and convention center somewhere near the Provo Park Hotel. The center would have a 2,000-seat symphony hall, a 300-seat theater, a recital hall and a lecture room. The major financing for the center was to come from a $7 million loan guaranteed with future CDBG funds. However, city officials decided CDBG funds are better spent on roads and storm-drain improvements.
The mayor still hopes to build the performing arts center with private donations, a state grant, taxes generated by a proposed mall in south Provo and revenue generated by the restaurant tax.
The city hopes to convince county commissioners to use all restaurant tax collections to pay off the bonds for the Utah Valley Special Events Center. Then a new list of projects to be financed with the tax would go before voters for approval.