Mayor Mark Begich comments
Alaska Civic and Convention Center finalist announcement
10:30 a.m.; Sept. 9, 2004; Mayor’s Conference Room

Good morning – thanks for being here.

When I campaigned for this office and then transitioned into it, we talked about the importance of economic development. Certainly a key component of a healthy economy is tourism, an essential driver of our economy. Last year, the state enjoyed the visits of over 1.5 million tourists to state.

Today, I want to announce a major decision to continue and increase the growth of this vital industry.

This decision that will change our city’s landscape for decades – change it positively creating future economic growth, providing and creating new jobs for our community.

After months of careful deliberation, we have selected a finalist to build a new Alaska civic and convention center.  This new center will serve as a cornerstone in our downtown revitalization, enhancing the physical look of our city for residents and visitors alike.

The new center will produce a major shot in the arm to our economy, helping generate millions of dollars in new business for our city. It will create 700 new direct and indirect jobs, 800 construction jobs and some 90,000 new hotel nights.

And I believe a new civic and convention center will boost the morale of our city – creating a new sense of excitement about Anchorage’s unlimited future opportunities.

The proposal we have selected is for a new civic and convention center just a block south of where we stand today – the proposal by Venture Development and JL Properties.

It will be a spectacular center Alaskans can be proud of – a center that will attract worldwide conventions to Anchorage, a center that will be an excellent site for home-grown civic events.

This proposal was selected for three simple reasons.

First, it’s affordable. The total cost of this center is budgeted at $93 million – nearly $10 million less than a proposal Anchorage voters failed to support two years ago.

It won’t cost Anchorage property taxpayers a dime. This new center will be financed entirely by a 4 percent increase in Anchorage’s hotel/motel tax.
If Anchorage voters approve in April, our city’s bed tax will increase from the current 8 percent to 12 percent – still below the national average - with the additional revenue paying for the entire cost of construction and operation of this center.

The second reason this proposal was selected is the many assets it delivers for our downtown redevelopment and convention needs.

It includes 50,000 square feet of exhibit space, a 31,000-square foot ballroom and breakout rooms totaling another 12,000 square feet. Compare that to the Egan Convention Center, with just 19,000 square feet.

This proposal connects well to Town Square, the Performing Arts Center, the Egan Center and other downtown amenities required by convention goers – hotels, restaurants, shopping. It fully utilizes the Egan Center, located just two blocks away through covered walkways.

The third reason this proposal was selected is because Anchorage can have a new, sorely needed convention center in a timely manner.

Once a development agreement between the city and developers is completed – and I believe we’re only weeks away from that - the Anchorage Assembly will approve a ballot question for the April 6, 2005 city election.

If voters approve the bed tax increase, the developers will proceed to detailed design. Construction would begin in the spring of 2006, with the first conventions booked for late summer or fall 2008.

Anchorage badly needs this new civic and convention center. As Bruce Bustamante from the ACVB will detail in a moment, we’re simply missing the boat on large and multiple mid-size conventions and the millions of dollars they bring in.

In the past couple of years, conventions in our community have generated about $77 million annually for the Anchorage economy. But we’re missing millions of dollars more in convention trade because of inadequate space in the Egan Center and other existing facilities.

Two days ago, I called a local small businessman, Buster Hall, to tell him about today’s announcement. He is a local Lions Club member who brought a regional Lions Club convention to Anchorage earlier this year. And he doubles as the long-time organizer of the Anchorage boat show.

When I told him about our decision on this new center, he wanted to book it on the spot for the next 10 years for the boat show. They don’t have a location for next year, and it’s been the same struggle year after year to find suitable space.

Buster was as excited as I am about this new center and the hundreds of jobs this will create.

Today’s announcement caps a detailed process driven by two underlying principles - encourage private sector innovation, and protect Anchorage property taxpayers from footing the bill.

Between the time final proposals were submitted and today, we explored with the developer a number of options to improve upon their proposal.  We believe those that were approved will benefit the project financially and esthetically, and negotiations to achieve even additional improvements will continue.

You’ll recall in February we issued a detailed Request for Proposals for a new Anchorage convention center. Both of the finalists met these criteria. A panel of city officials and private sector experts spent weeks reviewing every aspect of the two final proposals.

I want to commend the other finalist, John Blomfield, for his excellent proposal. Both proposals were world-class.

Now, let me ask a few others to provide some additional information about historic announcement.

First, Bruce Bustamante from the Anchorage Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Next, is Tennys Owens, owner of Artique Limited and an executive committee member of the business group which has formed to encourage a positive outcome in April – “Anchorage Civic and Convention Center Yes.”

We also have Mark Pfeffer and Jon Rubini of the winning proposal here, and other city officials involved in this process.