A Nanaimo city councillor hopes to drum up ideas on different uses for the Vancouver Island Conference Centre, including the potential to sell space.
But it’s a “wee bit premature” for Mayor Bill McKay, who says the city has to be careful about the message it sends to the conference centre hotel developer, SSS Manhao.
Coun. Gordon Fuller plans to call on council to seek non-binding expressions of interest for the Vancouver Island Conference Centre, including repurposing, selling or leasing the space.
According to Fuller, the hotel has failed on two fronts: its ongoing taxpayer subsidy and as an economic generator for downtown Nanaimo. The community has been “pretty adamant” it wants to see something better done with the conference centre, or different people running it, said Fuller, whose motion will include seeking expressions of interest and public input into what should be done with the facility.
“The public had input of a sort in deciding to build this thing in the first place so I think the public should have input in deciding what to do with it,” said Fuller. “We’d be looking at different options that could be done with the convention centre and that may include the city keeping the portion the Shaw Auditorium is in and repurposing and selling or leasing the rest.”
In December, politicians scrapped an independent analysis and partial update of a 2004 market feasibility study, but agreed to bring up the conference centre issue in 2015 budget talks.
McKay had also said publicly that it’s time to consider making decisions about the facility, with community disappointment in its performance and concerns about ever-increasing subsidies.
Since its first full year in 2009, the centre has gone over budget three times and taxpayers have paid more than $900,000 annually in operating subsidies. This year, the centre was expected to post a $102,000 deficit on top of more than a $1-million subsidy, but the final tally has not yet been released.
McKay told the News Bulletin he wants an analysis and conversation around the centre’s performance and whether the city should consider other available options, but suggesting it’s going to be repurposed is “jumping the gun.”
He said the city has to remember there is a hotel application that is going to look at feeding off of the conference centre and providing it rooms, “so I think we want to be really careful with the message we get out there right now with respect to repurposing,” he said, adding the hotel is strongly interested in operating the conference centre.
Fuller, however, says the hotel can submit an expression of interest.
Fuller expects the motion will be brought forward this month.