Columbus councilmen want a new convention center.
The council wants one planned and approved by the end of their term in 2017.
This is one of several goals Phil Hardwick, project manager at the John C. Stennis Institute of Government and Community Development at Mississippi State University, had city leaders and department heads put into lists to use as references going forward during a day-long strategic planning retreat Thursday at the Plymouth Bluff Center.
Councilman Kabir Karriem introduced the discussion, saying he had “heard a lot of talk” during the five years he’s been a councilman about having a new, larger facility that could host a variety of event types. Columbus Mayor Robert Smith then suggested that the council’s goal specifically be to establish a set of plans that would get backing from Lowndes County, the Columbus-Lowndes Convention and Visitors Bureau and other interested entities.
“It might be a deal where you have to do a location somewhere close to Clayton Village (in Oktibbeha County) where the three cities can buy in — West Point, Starkville and Columbus,” Smith said. “I think it’s much needed. We lose a lot of sales tax from not having a place in Columbus where you can attract different organizations to come in. We don’t have break-out rooms in our existing convention center.”
The Trotter Convention Center, which is downtown on Fifth Street, can seat roughly 1,500 people.
Councilman Bill Gavin said the lack of a large facility has meant a lot of lost revenue for The Friendly City.
“All we could possibly do is have small conventions,” Gavin said. “I know a lot of convention centers are not moneymakers themselves, but it’s the intangibles that come along with that. You have a concert, people come into the city, they spend the night and go to restaurants. They shop, they buy gasoline. It’s a perception of the city. We’ve got this perception that we’re kind of an older, developed city.”
Councilman Charlie Box referenced Tupelo’s BancorpSouth Center and suggested Columbus stump for sponsorship from major companies.
“Part of that goal is to try to get a sponsor,” Box said. “If it’s going to ever happen, it’s going to have to be through that.”
Karriem also suggested having a Jumbotron alongside the center to advertise other events going on in Columbus.
The council met with Hardwick during a morning session, where it broke into small groups and put together lists, including three-year goals, of what the city does well and where it can improve. Department heads met with Hardwick and did the same activities before the council rejoined the session near the end.
Editions of The Dispatch published next week will have follow-up articles on specific objectives city leaders will work to complete over the next three years.
Nathan Gregory covers city and county government for The Dispatch.
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