On October 13, members of the public turned in a petition that would force a vote to pause the creation of a new convention center. The Austin convention center, which was built in 1992 and doubled in size in 2002, and won’t be paid off until 2029 does not exist anymore, it is a hole in the ground.
Polling shows that the construction of a new convention center does not have much support in the community. Even Kirk Watson said:
“This reminds me very much of my granddaughter…who recently took Legos and built a beautiful whatever it was, and I told her it was beautiful, and then she immediately destroyed it. I kind of feel like that’s what I’m — I remember trying to double the size of this convention center, and now we’re going to knock it down,” he said.
With a tentative vote coming why would the current City council put on Thursday’s October 23 agenda an item (#9) to approve issuing $650 million in revenue bonds for the project. Another item (#11) increases the general contract by $450 million, with a budget not exceeding $1.65 billion. This $1.65 billion is not the final price tag on construction costs (and excludes interest payments and operating losses in the tens of millions every year.
Wait, there is more:
Item 5 is $46 million in HOT revenue refunding bonds for the convention center, and Item 38 is $1.7 million for r strategic communications support and community outreach services for the redevelopment and expansion project for the Austin Convention Center.
Is the Council trying to spend money before the public can tell them no?
In July the city approved construction of a new 1,000 room hotel and convention center at the Circuit of the Americas. Does the city need two new convention centers?