The Lake County Convention and Visitors Bureau is reviving plans for a convention center to boost tourism and fill hotel rooms.
The bureau has committed to funding a feasibility study of the concept and will push for a food and beverage tax to fund the convention center, according to LCCVB President and CEO Speros Batistatos.
"We are not going to get dragged into another north versus south, Democrat versus Republican, and black versus white conversation as we did 12 years ago," Batistatos said, acknowledging more than a decade of failed efforts to build such a complex.
This time around, any proposal will be based on a systematic study of the project, including estimated demand, cost and where it will go, the sometimes outspoken tourism chief said.
Batistatos spoke of the plan Monday morning before The Times Editorial Board in Munster. With less than three months before the short session of the Indiana General Assembly, the bureau wants to start a drive to win back control of the food and beverage tax.
Two years ago, the right to use the proceeds of the tax was assigned to the newly formed Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority. It first must be enacted by the County Council.
Lake County is authorized to have a food and beverage tax of up to 3 percent. It is estimated each 1 percent of food and beverage tax would raise about $7 million per year.
A convention center could host events ranging from municipal leagues to table tennis championships, Batistatos said. Just two recent events, the Salvation Army annual convention and National Softball Association World Series, brought a combined 13,000 people to Northwest Indiana.
If Chicago wins its bid for the 2016 Olympics, the facility could be used as a training center or events site, he said.
To demonstrate the need for the convention center, Batistatos pointed out hotel occupancy in the counties of Lake, Porter and LaPorte hovers around 60 percent.
In comparison, Indianapolis has an occupancy rate of 69.7 percent in its hotels so far this year, according to the Indianapolis Convention and Visitors Association. Work on expanding the Indiana Convention Center next to the new Lucas Oil Stadium will start next year.
In 2004, the Indianapolis Convention and Visitors Association commissioned a study by PricewaterhouseCoopers on the need for a new convention center, according to association spokesman Chris Gahl.
"We did deliberate research to make sure building a new convention center was not just a knee-jerk reaction," Gahl said.
In Lake County, three new hotels are under construction, which could knock the 60 percent occupancy rate lower, Batistatos said. Three more are under construction in Porter County.
"We're going to talk about the need for the project, we are going to talk about the economics of the project, we're going to talk about the employment, the construction -- all of the revenues it can create," he said.
