THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 7, 1996 TAG: 9609060013
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: 62 lines
At a retreat last month, Virginia Beach City Council agreed to study the fate of the Pavilion Convention Center during the coming fiscal year.
There is only one thing to be done with the Pavilion: Expand it.
Even when it was built 16 years ago, the Pavilion was too small. Moderate-sized conventions long ago outgrew its 60,000 square-foot exhibit hall. And even if space wasn't a problem, the Pavilion lacks elegant amenities like a ballroom, banquet facilities and well-equipped meeting rooms to entice the big boys of the convention world.
For a short time, in the early 1980s, Virginia Beach competed nicely with Richmond for Virginia's convention business. But in the past decade the capital has pulled far ahead due partly to its polished, upscale convention facilities and plush meeting rooms. Plans to triple the size of Richmond's convention center next year should firmly establish it as the premier convention spot in the commonwealth.
Meanwhile, Virginia Beach, with its warehouse-like hall and bare-bones meeting rooms, has been subsisting on less-lucrative trade shows. About 75 percent of the Pavilion business is from locally generated events. That is not good news for merchants and innkeepers who need an infusion of out-of-town bucks.
With the ocean just blocks away, and the proximity to so many attractions from Williamsburg to Norfolk, the Pavilion ought to be booked solid with regional and national conventions year-round. Supporters of the Pavilion expansion say that with the right facilities and support services, the Pavilion could be a major tool in stimulating the region's economy, especially in the off-season.
``We're a beach in an urban setting,'' says Jim Ricketts, director of the Virginia Beach Department of Convention and Visitor Development, who is pushing the Pavilion expansion. ``We sell the region very heavily to prospective conventions.''
A thriving convention business is a good tonic for sluggish local economies. A recent study showed that the average state or local conventioneer spends just $349 during a convention. But the average delegate to a national, international or regional event spends a whopping $863.
Unfortunately, Ricketts doesn't have much to sell compared to what Richmond, Ocean City, Md., and Baltimore are offering.
Council should look with favor on proposals that would enlarge by more than 200,000 square feet the outdated and undersized Pavilion. Cost estimates range from $80 million to $94 million for the improvements. But the return to the city could be enormous and proponents say the money can be found without raising taxes.
Supporters of the expansion say that TGIF funds, earmarked for Oceanfront improvements, could pay for much of the cost. Another source of monies could be found in a few years when the Pavilion construction debt is paid off. The hospitality tax that is retiring that debt could be extended to pay off the new construction.
Tourism experts lament that Virginia Beach does not have a single ``flagship'' hotel. It isn't likely to attract one, either, until a convention center is built which might hold some promise of consistently filling those rooms.
Virginia Beach has everything it needs to become a major center for conventions. Except an adequate convention center.
The city can fix that. by CNB