Bud Center attracts major convention

LOVELAND – The Jehovah’s Witnesses have agreed to hold a series of regional conventions next summer at the Budweiser Events Center, a deal that figures to be a boon for the area’s hospitality industry.

As planned, Jehovah’s Witnesses from multiple states will gather at the new arena on six different weekends between early June and early September. Each weekend will draw up to 6,000 participants, said Rick Hontz, assistant general manager for the Budweiser Events Center.

The arena, located at the new Larimer County Fairgrounds complex – known as The Ranch – holds a maximum of 7,200 people for concerts and conventions.

Each of the Jehovah’s Witnesses weekends will occupy the Budweiser Events Center for three days. The scheduled weekends included June 4-6; July 2-4; July 9-11; July 16-18; Aug. 27-29 and Sept. 3-5.

“This is big for the area,” Hontz said. “It’s not so big for the facility. Normally when we have a concert, for instance, there’s all kind of revenue streams, like parking and concessions. With this, there’s no other revenue stream other than the rental of the arena.”

But the impact on hotels and restaurants should be sizeable.

A large percentage of convention participants will come from outside of the region. Representatives of the Jehovah’s Witness church have reached deals with numerous hotels in Northern Colorado to book blocks of rooms. For each of the convention weekends, church members will occupy up to 500 rooms in Fort Collins alone – about one-fourth of the city’s hotel inventory, said Rich Harter, executive director of the Fort Collins Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Another 300 rooms have been reserved in other Northern Colorado cities, Harter said.

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