Provo closer to getting convention center

PROVO — After years of consideration, a Utah County convention center appears to be on its way to Provo.

On Tuesday night, Utah County commissioners met with the Provo City Council to discuss key points of a proposed convention center in downtown Provo.

The proposal calls for Provo and its redevelopment agency to build the parking structure for the facility and forego its requirement to have underground parking.

Paul Glauser, director of Provo's RDA, told the City Council that underground parking would cost up to $36,000, while ground-level parking could cost as little as $12,000.

The proposed convention center would be built on 200 West, between Center Street and 100 North, near the Provo Marriott. It would be three stories tall and 120,000 square feet, with a 20,000-square-foot exhibit hall and an 18,000-square-foot ballroom. Currently, the largest public ballroom in Utah County is 8,000 square feet, Glauser said.

Commissioners have requested that Provo and its RDA help the county acquire additional properties along the south side of the convention center site; assist with obtaining any available grant funding for the project; and work together with the county to provide future parking.

According to the proposal, the county has to start construction by Dec. 31, 2010, but Glauser said the county is planning to start building this summer.

The Provo City Council will vote on the key points of the deal next week.

Utah County Commissioner Gary Anderson said the money to build the convention center will come from tourism taxes, not county taxpayers.

County leaders want to move the construction forward while the cost of steel, concrete and labor are still cheap, Anderson said.

Glauser said the cost of building is down 25 percent to 42 percent from last year.

e-mail: slenz@desnews.com