ERIE, PA. Hopes rest on civic center

Projections show the center losing money for the first five years.
ERIE, Pa. (AP) -- With factories closing and commercial fishing all but extinct, officials are increasingly hinging Erie's transformation on a yet-to-be-built $46.5 million lakefront convention center.
Civic and business leaders who have tried for years to revitalize the city's waterfront expect the planned center to generate millions of dollars in retail, commercial, recreation and entertainment projects over the next five years.
"It's all hanging on this, and hopefully we'll be successful," said Marlene Mosco, chairwoman of the Erie County Convention Center Authority. "We believe the convention center is going to be the linchpin for more development on the bay-front."
Plans for the 113,000-square-foot convention center include a large exhibit hall, a banquet room, ballroom and a dozen meeting rooms. A developer plans to build a 13-story, 150-room Courtyard by Marriott hotel next to the facility.
Groundbreaking is set for August, though plans have not jelled since Gov. Ed Rendell announced a review of all state-funded projects to reassess their value.
Proponents say the state would get a good deal. A feasibility study done in the planning stages of the center predicted that visitors would spend between $215 and $265 per day, more than 700 jobs would be created, and visitors would generate an additional $725,000 in sales tax revenue.
Critics, however, say the convention center would only create low- or medium-paying jobs and worry that Erie's harsh winters will keep visitors from filling hotel rooms.
A 1999 study by QED Consulting of Cincinnati estimated that the convention center would lose about $603,000 in its first year and about $286,000 by the fifth year.
Those figures don't include the approximately $1.4 million expected from a county hotel tax. And the operational loss pales in comparison to the economic benefit of the community, said Casey Wells, the authority's executive director.