Coalition: Not enough demand for centre
Convention market not increasing as Trade Centre suggests, group says
By AARON BESWICK Staff Reporter
Wed, Feb 2 - 4:55 AM
Coalition member Allan Robertson: “It’s a house of cards — it’s really corporate welfare is what it is.” (Peter Parsons / Staff)
A coalition opposed to Halifax’s proposed new convention centre is accusing Trade Centre Ltd. of exaggerating demand for the facility.
The Coalition to Save the View argued at a news conference Tuesday that $159 million in public money earmarked for the centre is being poured into a facility that will compete in a global market glutted with too many conference centres and too few conferences.
"It’s a house of cards — it’s really corporate welfare is what it is," said coalition member Allan Robertson.
The president and chief executive officer of Trade Centre Ltd. disagrees.
"You need to understand the business before you go out and start talking about it, and frankly, I don’t believe that they do," Scott Ferguson said in a telephone interview of the coalition’s claim that the centre would be a drain on the municipal and provincial coffers for decades to come.
Tuesday’s broadsides are the latest salvos fired between Trade Centre Ltd., the Crown corporation that runs the existing World Trade and Convention Centre, and the coalition, originally formed to protect the view of Citadel Hill from the highrise towers that would be part of the $500-million convention centre complex.
Halifax developer Rank Inc.’s proposal includes a hotel and retail, condo and office space in addition to the convention centre. All but the convention centre would be built with private-sector funding.
The three levels of government would put up the $159-million cost of the convention centre. The provincial and municipal governments have agreed to contribute $56 million each while the federal government has been asked to pony up the other $47 million from the Building Canada Fund. Ottawa has not yet made a final decision on funding.
The facility, scheduled to open in 2015 on Argyle Street on the site of the old Halifax Herald building, doesn’t violate provincial regulations protecting the view of Citadel Hill.
Coalition member Phil Pacey disagreed Tuesday with figures used in a Trade Centre Ltd. internal staff report that said the centre would be a draw for large, multi-day conferences bringing delegates from all over the world. The report predicts a new centre would host seven international conferences in its first year, 11 in its second, 13 in its third, and up to 29 by its 10th year of operation.
Pacey said those numbers are based on wrongheaded interpretations of figures from the International Congress and Convention Association, based in the Netherlands, and that Trade Centre Ltd. is using the numbers to make it appear that the international conference market is growing.
Pacey argued that the association’s figures, along with those for national conferences, actually show a market in decline.
"All conclusions that flow from the TCL internal staff report cannot be accurate or be relied upon," he said. "However, the provincial government relied on this report to explain its decision to the public."
Ferguson responded that the existing convention centre already has seven international conferences booked for next year, making it not unreasonable to expect a new, expanded facility could attract as many in its first year and grow its market share.
"These are very realistic and achievable numbers," Ferguson said, adding that international conferences only amount to a small portion of the business plan, which calls for 630 other events in the facility’s first year.
"They’re looking at small pieces of a massive amount of work."
Cathy MacIsaac, a spokeswoman for the Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal Department, denied that the province relied upon incorrect statistics in making its decision to support the convention centre.
"The business case for the convention centre is well-documented and there have been a number of reports done looking at everything from the needs of the centre, to market potential and economic impact," she said.
"Taken together, those various reports and research really highlight the need for the centre and the related broader economic benefits it will bring to the province."
Neither Mayor Peter Kelly nor Rank Inc. spokesman Joe Ramia could be reached for comment Tuesday.
(
abeswick@herald.ca)