Members of Fargo’s Convention Center selection committee are ready to bring a recommendation to the City Commission.
The group has been working since January to obtain proposals for a new convention center, and they have narrowed a list of nine ideas to four. Committee members have scored the four proposals and will present the ranked list to the commission, Monday evening. Charley Johnson is former President and CEO of Visit Fargo-Moorhead. He chairs the selection committee and read the final rankings…
“…The number for Brewhalla is 85.22, Civic Center – Downtown – 79.83, Scheels Arena – 75.83 and the Fargo Dome site is 62.11.”
Johnson says if the Commission decides to accept the recommendation and moves on to contract negotiations there will also be a need to keep the public informed. He says there is still some confusion about the lodging tax that serves as the funding mechanism for the project…
“…You hear a lot of misinformation on newspaper articles, editorials, on radio stations – tax payers shouldn’t have to pay for this. Fargo tax payers are not paying for this unless you’re putting grandmother up for Thanksgiving. OK, I’ve used that line a hundred times but that’s basically it. Or if you go for a date weekend at one our lovely hotels. That’s the only way you’re paying this tax.”
Johnson says no matter where the Convention Center is built, it will lift the whole metropolitan area.
