Conference center would host 250 events per year, study says

BOULDER ? The first phase of study examining the market for a new conference center in Boulder is nearing completion. A final draft of the market and economic analysis is expected about Dec. 1 and includes input from the University of Colorado.

“We have a flavor now for how many days a conference center would be used ?

about 250 days a year,´ said Stan Zemler, president and chief executive officer of the Boulder Chamber of Commerce. The study suggests the facility should be between 50,000 and 100,000 square feet and be able to accommodate national conferences, regional corporate functions and local events.

Zemler said the study shows a conference facility would have a positive economic impact on the city, with a significant effect on revenues and sales taxes. He was not ready to disclose numbers until the final draft is complete, and the steering committee has had a chance to review it.

“A few issues still exist, like available hotel space in Boulder. There just

isn’t enough to support a conference center,” Zemler said. If a hotel were added to the location where a conference center was built, it might take 10 acres, but that is not an issue he was asked to address in the first phase of the study.

The next phases would be a site and financing analysis, if Zemler and the

steering committee decide to proceed. The financing analysis would identify sources of funding to build the facility and its infrastructure.

The steering committee consists of representatives from the city, CU-Boulder, the Convention and Visitors Bureau Board and the Boulder Urban Renewal Authority (BURA). Paul Talbot, CU’s vice chancellor of administration and finance, represents the university.

The $40,000 study is being paid for by the chamber ($20,000), the city ($10,000) and BURA ($10,000). The chamber initiated the study and hired the Minneapolis-based firm Conventions, Sports & Leisure International (CSLI) to conduct it.

CSLI consultants have completed more than 200 planning, development and operations projects in 35 states and six countries. John Kaatz, director of convention services at CSLI, is the principal.

Conference groups of 500 or more people regularly are turned away from Boulder because the city has no public meeting facilities that can handle that large of a crowd, according to Shelly Helmerick, executive director of the Boulder Convention and Visitors Bureau.

on Facebook on LinkedIn