CU, chamber share convention-study notes

BOULDER – The University of Colorado and the Boulder Chamber of Commerce have “exchanged notes” from studies each group is conducting about whether or not a convention center should be built here.

Paul Talbot, CU’s vice chancellor of administration and finance, said CU has exchanged notes with Stan Zemler, president of the Boulder Chamber of Commerce, and expressed interest in collaborating with the chamber on the studies that are under way.

Tabolt said Zemler has what he needs from the university’s study being conducted by the Urban Land Institute. Zemler, who is in charge of a separate conference-center study for the Convention and Visitors Bureau at the chamber, said he didn’t know if he had the needed information from CU.

Zemler said he forwarded information from CU’s study to John Kaatz, director of convention services at CSL International, the consultants for the chamber’s study.

“The first part of the data collection showed CU to be a weak participant,” Zemler said. “After the consultants (CSL) have analyzed what I sent this week, they will be able to say, ‘If we bring CU into the game, here’s what we have to do, or here’s what we have to backtrack to get.'”

Kaatz said he is putting the finishing touches on the draft of the initial analysis and will present it to the CVB in three to four weeks.

Zemler said the jury is still out on whether or not building a conference center in Boulder is a good idea. Zemler said if the first phase of the study – market and economic analysis – “looks fantastic, and the economic analysis is good,” he’ll proceed to the second phase, which is site selection. The third phase addresses financing the project.

“We need to start some engagement with the public about how much it will cost and what the impact on the public will be,” Zemler said.

Brad Power, executive director of Boulder Urban Renewal Authority (BURA), said there have been informal conversations about Crossroads Mall as a site for a combined community and CU campus conference center. The question is whether a merged conference center can be successful.

The ULI panel said that to meet CU’s needs, a conference facility should be close to the university environment. Such facilities are usually in the heart of the campus, according to Tabolt. Crossroads would meet the closeness criteria, he said.

Power said it’s logical for a city conference center to be in the central core area of the community. “There are not too many sites in the central core of Boulder, and Crossroads is one of them, so naturally it’s being discussed,” he said. “When initial analysis is completed, it will show us what the general indicators of the market are and what kind of facilities and what opportunities exist in the market.”

The first part of the study has already shown that if a conference center were built, there wouldn’t be enough conference hotel room opportunities, Zemler said. That issue should be addressed in the draft, as well, he added.

Phil Simpson, a facilities planner at CU who is working on the university’s study, said the ULI’s advisory services panel was engaged to determine if meeting space for a variety of uses and an executive business center for the College of Business and Administration could be combined into conference facilities at Williams Village, southeast of the intersection at 30th Street and Baseline Road. The panel also looked at Research Park and nixed both locations.

ULI did say, however, that the University Club at 972 Broadway could be remodeled to serve as a hotel for executives, and the College Inn, two blocks north of the university on 17th Street, could be reconstructed. ULI’s written report is coming in October.

Meanwhile, facilities management is re-evaluating if it can scale back the conference center at Williams Village and is in the process of hiring legal and business consultants. A contract for the land planning master-site development has been awarded to Design Workshop in Denver. Jeff McMenimen is the project manager. Concurrent with the land planning is the selection of financial planning consultants from a group of firms now under consideration. The smaller conference facilities will be built eventually for CU’s department of housing to provide meeting spaces for student residents’ academic programs, summer meetings and the Student Leadership Institute.

The whole idea of a CU conference center is to provide meeting space and facilities for 700 people. “Without a conference space for that large a group, we’re leaving revenue on the table,” Simpson said. The purpose of combining the needs of student programs with an executive business center was to generate revenue during the winter months. Contrary to popular belief, many conference rooms at CU are not filled during the school year, while in the summer, it is difficult to find space, he said.

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