PROVO — Empowered by a feasibility study and new legislation that allows them to charge a hotel room tax, Provo and Utah County politicians and business leaders are working on the details of a plan to bring a new convention center to Utah Valley.
Late last year, a feasibility study by three national groups found that despite Provo's proximity to convention centers in Salt Lake City and the existence of space at Brigham Young University and Utah Valley State College's McKay Events Center, a need exists for additional convention space in Utah Valley.
The study suggested a new $29 million building with 80,000 square feet across the street from Provo's downtown Marriott Hotel. A local task force, however, is looking at an alternative — about 50,000 square feet for about $15 million.
A convention-center proposal could be finalized next month and presented to the Provo City Council and Utah County Commission in mid-June.
"There is a need in our community to provide for larger conventions that we're now turning away," said Kelly Ward, a task force member and Zions Bank executive.
The task force is embracing a concept that would add the new space to the Marriott. The addition would be on an adjacent block, but would be connected by an underground tunnel or a skywalk and operations could be handled by Sunstone Properties, which owns the Marriott franchise on Center Street.
"The study suggested a freestanding facility separate from what we have now," said Paul Glauser, director of Provo's redevelopment agency. "Realistically, it makes more sense to make it more of an extension of the Provo Marriott Hotel, though probably not on the same block, but connected."
Funding would come mainly from a transient room tax. In March, the state Legislature passed a bill that allows counties to charge up to 1.25 percent for hotel rooms to pay for projects such as the proposed convention center.
If the tax were implemented today, it would generate about $14 million, Ward said. The task force would seek additional funding from Provo, Utah County and the state.
County commissioners have expressed support for a convention center if it benefits the entire county. Ward said task force members believe the best location is next to the county's only five-star hotel. There has been some interest in building a convention center in the north end of the valley, near Thanksgiving Point or elsewhere in Lehi.
A key finding of the feasibility study was that exhibition space is lacking outside of the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City. In Utah Valley, only the McKay Events Center at UVSC offers exhibition space — 22,000 square feet — but most of that building's use is for college sports activities and other functions, not conventions. To succeed, a Provo convention center would need to offer exhibition space.
"There isn't any in the Marriott," Glauser said. "We have no true exhibition facility. Nowadays, an exhibition facility needs a ceiling 30 feet high and a concrete floor to hold really heavy exhibits. . . . This would be for smaller shows where booths are part of a show, not for boat shows."
The analysis, which concluded Provo should offer 20,000 square feet of exhibition space, was conducted last year by Conventions, Sports & Leisure International, HOK Venue and Hospitality Real Estate Counselors.
The task force met last week with the study's architect for what Glauser called a "reality check," which meant scuttling the more expensive freestanding convention option and gathering details on the smaller option that might be combined with the Marriott.
"We're still probably looking for a 20,000-square-foot hall with a 7,000-square-foot meeting space," Glauser said. "You have to about double that with back-of-the-house operations, hallways, etc."
The bottom line for the task force, Ward said, was the news that Provo is losing conventions.
"The feasibility study showed that conventions we've been getting here have been outgrowing our facilities," he said. "We're not just going out to get more of a share of the pie but working to retain the piece we already have. Some of those conferences that companies from our valley conduct will always go to Salt Lake because they will always be too big to do in Provo, but some want to stay here. We also identified some conventions that would come here from out of state. We're really looking at growing the pie and retaining what we have here."
The study estimated the proposed center would generate an annual $10 million in direct economic impact, most of it going to restaurants and hotels. It also would generate about 150 new jobs and $220,000 in additional city and county tax revenues.
The study looked at comparable markets and facilities in 15 states. About 67 percent of organizations surveyed responded positively when asked about the likelihood of using a proposed Provo conference center, a positive response rate higher than nine other markets — from Boise to New Haven, Conn., to Branson, Mo. — recently surveyed for similar studies.
Of the state and regional organizations whose planners responded negatively, 25 percent cited strict liquor laws and Provo's conservative nature as reasons to stay away.
"A relatively large number of venues exist within the state," the study said. "However, it is believed that the inclusion of traditional exhibit space could work to differentiate a Provo facility from many of these other facilities."
The new space would host more than 200 events a year. The most likely sites are located on the blocks south, west and north of the Marriott.
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