Was the convention center a good deal? (Cleveland, Twinsburg: hotels, taxes)

[WRnative]

<<David Gilbert, president of Destination Cleveland, the local convention and visitors' bureau, believes the center is paying off for the community, beyond the dollars and cents — which turn into jobs and taxes — that convention visitors spend in the two, three or four days they spend in the community.
"We are in the midst of changing the perception of Cleveland," he said. "And the number one way to do that, by far, is by bringing people to town and having them see it themselves."

Gilbert added that changing the perception of the community among convention visitors can have long-term effects. Those visitors, he said, "can be key to attracting new talent, they can be key to attracting new businesses, they can be a key to attracting business investment."

And changing that perception starts at the convention center. A subpar building would negate the attraction of the hotels and restaurants in walking distance that visitors laud. That does not appear to be the case.
"They built a great facility," said Scott Durkin, vice president of partner development at Experient, a Twinsburg firm that manages events across the country, formerly known as Conferon. "The center's space is excellent; staffing there is excellent."

When meeting planners like a building, that turns into more convention business. And Experient meeting planners are having good experiences at the Huntington center.

"Cleveland for the last two years has broken into our top 30 as far as destinations that we book," Durkin said. "Preceding those years, the city hadn't even been in the top 50."

The Huntington center hopes to get another similar boost this summer when the Professional Convention Management Association brings its 2018 PCMA Education Conference to Cleveland in June. Mona Cotton, the association's chief development officer, said hosting the Republican National Convention raised the city's profile but that the center itself is attractive to meeting planners.

"The Huntington Convention Center and its exhibit halls — the power supply, the access to water, just how they designed the exhibit halls — they made it convenient for trade shows," she said. "And it's very compact, but not small.">>

CENTER MEETING REGION'S NEEDS | Crain's Cleveland Business

[Peregrine]

Absolutely it was even without that article simply because the old one was old and not at all appealing. It needed an update and it was a very nice update. More modern, huge, and easy street access.

[ZnGuy]

I'd think the convention center has been good for Cleveland. Man that sure took a long time to happen (how many decades?). The old one was a joke the last 20+ years. Convention center certainly a better investment than Browns stadium..by the time the team has a winning team it will be time for Haslem to push for a upgraded one..