The city of Waco aims by the end of the year to hire private management to run and book the Waco Convention Center, which has struggled with understaffing and low occupancy rates since the pandemic.
The city's Waco Convention and Visitors Bureau has operated the convention center for decades, including managing staff and booking events. The office also manages the Waco Welcome Center and markets Waco's other major sites, such as McLane Stadium and the Extraco Events Center, while promoting Waco as a tourist destination.
Dan Quandt, director of Conventions and Tourism, said the city in 2015 began looking at switching to a privately run model, which is already in place at about half of mid-sized convention centers in the United States.
Waco is moving to find an outside operator for the Waco Convention Center, which has been operated by the city's Convention and Visitors Bureau since 1983.
Rod Aydelotte, Tribune-Herald
A 2017 study by commercial real estate firm Jones Lang LaSalle recommended that change, but Quandt said city council put the idea on the back burner and the COVID-19 pandemic further delayed action.
People also read…
Quandt said the idea returned in 2022 as the convention center struggled to rebuild staffing and bookings to pre-pandemic levels. In recent years, occupancy has been below 40%, well below city leaders' 70% goal.
A rendering by architectural firm Gensler illustrates the concept of a green lawn between the suspension bridge and the existing City Hall, in the center. The convention center could be moved to the building on the left.
City of Waco, provided
The recent push toward third-party operation comes as city leaders mull over a 2023 downtown study by architectural firm Gensler that recommended the city demolish and rebuild the current downtown conventions to create a green space between the City Hall and the river. The study also calls for a baseball stadium, a city office building and a performing arts center.
Quandt said the change to private management would allow the convention center to prepare for future growth in Waco.
Quandt said a private management company could better manage the convention center because it could devote 100 percent of its efforts to operations, without the other tourism promotion functions of the Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Quandt said if the private management model is adopted, the office would be restructured to focus more on promoting tourism in Waco.
In the transition to the new model, the convention center's existing staff would remain and be given the option of staying with the city or switching to the privately run company, said Missy Pustejovsky, director of human resources from Waco.
Quandt said the convention and tourism operations have 36 employee positions, with 10 positions currently vacant. He said 14 positions would remain at the Convention and Visitors Bureau, while 12 would be transferred elsewhere in the city or to the privately run company.
Quandt said the city issued a request for proposals from management companies. Quandt said that over the next two months, the city will hear proposals and agree on a contract with the selected company, subject to council approval in September.
If approved, the transition to a privately run model should be completed by the end of the year, Quandt said.
The annual symposium of the Southwest Association of Turners returned to the Waco Convention Center on Friday, August 26, 2022. The meeting has been held in Waco since 2008. Music: https://www.purple-planet.com
