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Saturday, August 28, 2010
Events Center a Bad '70s Re-Tread
By Pete Dinelli
Former Albuquerque City Councilor
The more things change, the more things stay the same.
Twenty-four years ago, the Albuquerque City Council and then-Mayor Ken Schultz debated for months on whether to fund the expansion of the Albuquerque Convention Center and spend millions of taxpayer dollars to add the east wing onto the 20-year-old convention center. I was the only city councilor to vote no at the time.
The convention center was built in the 1970s under the guise of urban renewal after condemnation of residential homes and businesses in the area.
As part of the 1980s expansion and remodeling, taxpayer bond money was used to subsidize and build the Hyatt Regency and adjoining office high rise building. The arguments made for the convention center expansion and hotel in 1986 were the same bogus arguments being made now for the $400 million dollar "new event center and headquarters hotel," to wit: convention bookings are down, it's needed for Downtown revitalization and Albuquerque cannot compete for conventions. The investment really never paid off as expected, and the city still owes millions on the convention center and the expansion.
The big issue is absolutely the lack of desirability of Downtown. The 1970s urban renewal destroyed the Downtown area and its character. Additionally, many historical buildings were torn down such as the Alvarado and the Franciscan Hotel. At one time, Downtown Albuquerque was where you went shopping, did your banking, went for entertainment such as to the movies, and where major department stores such as Sears, JCPenney and American Furniture were located. Those days are long, long gone. For the last 45 years, Albuquerque city government and the Albuquerque Convention and Visitors Bureau has been fixated on trying to restore Downtown Albuquerque to its old glory when the rest of Albuquerque and the businesses and taxpayers have moved on to other areas of the city. In a very real sense, the Uptown area of Albuquerque, including Coronado Center and ABQ Uptown, is what Downtown Albuquerque was in the 1960s and 1970s.
Not until Albuquerque becomes a destination city will it ever be able to justify a $400 million dollar or more event center and hotel in the "Downtown area." Albuquerque can very easily become a destination city by improving and expanding quality of life amenities such as the Bio Park, the various museums, the zoo and Tingley Beach area.
The city and private entrepreneurs need to come up with much, much better ideas, projects and amenities that will make Albuquerque a desirable place to visit and live and that will ultimately make Albuquerque a destination city. Given the current economic times, now is not the time for a $400 million dollar event center and hotel in that we have already been down this road of failure.
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