Convention board signs deal with hotel group BY LAUREN P. DUNCAN lduncan@paducahsun The Paducah Convention Hotel is signed on to manage the Julian Carroll Convention Center and the Paducah Expo Center. The Paducah-McCracken County Convention Center Corporation (CCC) approved an agreement with Paducah Convention Hotel LLC on Tuesday. The agreement states Paducah Convention Hotel will manage the convention center for 10 years beginning today, with the possibility of two additional 10-year terms in the future. The CCC will pay Paducah Convention Hotel $10,000 a month for at least the first five years of the agreement. After five years, that cost may be increased based on the consumer price index. The agreement stipulates that Paducah Convention Hotel will be responsible for day-to-day management, hiring, accounting, budgeting, event booking, maintenance, contracting and marketing of the convention center. The Paducah Convention Hotel group includes developers involved with the new Hilton Garden Inn project and leaders with Senate Hospitality, one of the hotel project partners with Hilton Worldwide. We feel strongly that the people we are contracting with are good professional operators, and theyre very interested in doing a good job and making this a first-class facility, said Brian Katz, CCC board vice-chairman. Meanwhile, the Hilton Garden Inn design is in its final phases. A groundbreaking has not yet been set for the 121-room, six-story hotel, but Paducah Riverfront Development Authority Director Steve Doolittle said the group hopes to set a date within the next few weeks. The group had originally hoped for a groundbreaking in September, but it has been delayed partly due to the group waiting on approval of a loan for the project, which Doolittle said he thinks will be approved soon. Tuesdays agreement approval is key to receiving the loan approval, he said. Katz said the $10,000 monthly fee is the same amount the CCC has been paying the Carson Center to manage the convention center. The new convention center management may also receive an incentive of 25 percent of the gross revenues on a quarterly basis under certain terms. Paducah Convention Hotel will receive a portion of the food and beverage revenue at the centers to help renovate the centers kitchen. The CCC will receive a portion of the transient room tax to operate the centers. The CCC will have control over the pricing for the Quilt Show contract, and the Paducah Convention Hotel will not be able to make special expenditures over $2,000 without the consent of the CCC. Board member Bill Bartleman complimented those who have worked on the negotiations. I know negotiations were difficult, but I know from what we were told and what weve read that were well-protected, and history will not repeat itself, he said. The convention center has been managed by the Carson Center since December of 2011 after the CCCs former executive director, J. Patrick Kerr, was arrested for embezzlement in October of 2011. The Carson Center staff will continue to provide its services to Senate Hospitality until the end of the year when it will assist the new managers in the transition. It allows us to transition over a three-month period, make it as seamless as possible to the clients, said Jeff Forman, director of operations at the Carson Center. Katz said he thinks convention center leaders will look back on the agreement with Paducah Convention Hotel in the future and still consider it a good deal. There were and perhaps still are various pieces that have to come together in order to make this project come to fruition, and this is a big piece of the puzzle, he said. Contact Lauren Duncan, Paducah Sun staff writer, at 270-575-8692 or follow @laurenpduncan on Twitter.
Posted on: Thu, 02 Oct 2014 03:30:42 +0000