93.9 The Eagle – The News and Talk of Columbia, MO
A Columbia businessman pushing for a downtown conference center predicts it would be successful and would generate additional taxes for the city and Boone County.
David Parmley owns the Broadway Hotel downtown and hopes to break ground on the hotel’s second tower in about a month. Mr. Parmley tells 939 the Eagle’s “CEO Roundtable” host Fred Parry that the conference center would be west of the second tower and would have about 30,000 square feet.
“This all connects to Broadway tower 1, Broadway tower 2 meeting space and the Atrium that John Ott developed, which has I think 8,000. So there’s 20,000 already in place of square footage,” Parmley says.
“So the Atrium would stay there in is current format?” Parry asks on-air.
“Right, so you could use that for your trade shows or happy hour afterward,” says Parmley.
Mr. Parmley tells listeners that it would have to be a public-private partnership to be successful. He says 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.
He tells listeners that the proposed conference center would be just west of the Broadway Hotel’s planned second tower. Parmley says it would have plenty of seating.
“The largest ballroom would be 16,000 square feet, so that will seat 1,000 banquet-style,” Parmley says.
Mr. Parmley says this would be a two-story conference center, with a ballroom on the top floor. He envisions breakout rooms on the lower level. He says tourism is a key component to Columbia’s economy.
Click here to listen to the full “CEO Roundtable” interview between host Fred Parry and Mr. Parmley.
