Salt Lake City makes official bid for Republican National Convention

SALT LAKE CITY – If you ask Salt Lake Convention and Visitors Bureau President Scott Beck, Salt Lake City has a better than good chance of hosting the Republican National Convention in 2012.

Beck and other partners who are teaming up for the bid, including Utah Jazz owner Greg Miller, visited the Republican National Committee headquarters in Washington, D.C., on Friday to make a presentation on what could be one of the biggest moneymakers for the city in a long time. Beck said he's confident that RNC Chairman Michael Steele enjoyed what they had to say.

"We were extremely well-received," he said.

Having already hosted a massive gathering of spectators, media and professional athletes for the Olympics almost a decade ago, Salt Lake City has quite an advantage over some of the other cities in the running, Beck said.

"One of the biggest factors is that we have the physical facilities to do this," he said. The convention, which typically happens in the late summer or early fall, brings with it up to 30,000 delegates, politicians and members of the media, all needing housing, transportation and security.

"We have the experience," Beck said, adding that Salt Lake City has not only hosted the Olympics but also the NBA All-Star game in 1993.

At least 15 other cities are competing for the same bid, including Tampa Bay, San Antonio, Houston, Denver, Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix and Indianapolis, among others. Only Salt Lake and Los Angeles have the Olympics on their resume, but many have catered to large conventions at one time or another.

The goal of last week's presentation was to "make the final cut," Beck said, as one of four finalist cities. The final four will be announced in March and city inspections will begin in April of this year.

"We'd love to bring them out to see the wonderful thing we call Salt Lake," Beck said.

The Salt Lake City Council has written a joint resolution to support the bid proposal, stating the area boasts "requisite facilities" and that the city's airport is one of the largest airline hubs in the western United States. Several projects, including additional TRAX lines and partial completion of the City Creek project, are expected by the time of the 2012 convention.

It may cost the city up to $40 million to host the convention, but Beck believes the benefits outweigh the risks of having it here.

"Conventions are a very, very big economic impact to the region," he said. The five-day convention in Minnesota in 2008 brought around $178 million to the area in sales, transportation and hospitality services.

"It brazens the stature of the community," Beck said, to have such an event turn the eyes of the nation to Salt Lake City.

"There's an incredible spirit of welcomeness that visitors experience when they come to Salt Lake City," he said. He'd just like more to be able to experience it, that's all.

e-mail: wleonard@desnews.com