93.9 The Eagle – The News and Talk of Columbia, MO
Columbia’s Convention and Visitors Bureau wants to contract with a company to conduct a $61,000 study on potential conference center development in the city. The council will hear a report on the conference center feasibility study this evening.
Columbia city manager De’Carlon Seewood has written a two-page report to the council, which says the meetings and conventions market in Columbia has gradually rebounded from the pandemic. He says while Columbia is equipped to host meetings comfortably for 300 to 350 people, there has been interest from developers in bringing more meeting space to Columbia. That could be a conference or a convention center.
Mr. Seewood says the study from Conventions, Sports and Leisure (CSL) International would identify all potential hotel and conference center development sites in the city that have sufficient land with proper zoning and access to infrastructure.
Columbia businessman David Parmley, who owns the Broadway Hotel downtown, has predicted that a downtown conference center would be successful and would generate additional taxes for the city and Boone County. Mr. Parmley has said that it would have to be a public-private partnership to be successful. He told 939 the Eagle last June that a downtown conference center would generate $430,000 a year in additional taxes for Columbia, while generating $220,000 a year in additional taxes for Boone County.
