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Convention Center, Expo Management Plan Okayed

Convention Center, Expo Management Plan Okayed
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By West Kentucky Star Staff
Sep. 30, 2014 | PADUCAH, KY
By West Kentucky Star Staff Sep. 30, 2014 | 04:10 PM | PADUCAH, KY
At a meeting Tuesday, the Paducah-McCracken County Convention Center Corporation approved an agreement with Paducah Convention Hotel, LLC for the management of the Julian Carroll Convention Center and the Paducah Expo Center.

Paducah Riverfront Development Authority Executive Director Steve Doolittle said, “This is another piece of the puzzle that we needed to come together before the hotel breaks ground later this fall.  The hotel design is in its final stages and the financing is coming together."

"This time next year we will be looking at a beautiful six-story Hilton Garden Inn.”

The agreement is for Paducah Convention Hotel to operate and maintain the convention and expo centers for a ten-year term beginning October 1,  with the option of two additional ten-year terms. 

The duties outlined in the agreement include the day-to-day management, hiring, accounting, budgeting, event booking, maintenance, contracting, and marketing of the convention centers.  The CCC will provide Paducah Convention Hotel with a base fee of $10,000 each month subject to an increase in five years.  An incentive fee also is in the contract based on the gross operating profit.  The management agreement also provides for a portion of the transient room tax to support the operations of the facilities.  Paducah Convention Hotel also will be responsible with all operations for providing food and beverage services.

Each year, the CCC will be presented with the annual budgets for the facilities for approval. 

CCC Chairman Phil McIntosh said, “Paducah and McCracken County have incredible assets with the Julian Carroll Convention and the Paducah Expo Center.  We offer thousands of square feet of exhibition space with state-of-the-art meeting rooms.  We had to make sure this agreement was in the best interests of both parties with the goals of increasing the awareness of what Paducah has to offer and increasing the number of conventions that utilize these facilities.”

Last May, Paducah Convention Hotel announced that it had a franchise agreement with Hilton to build a 121-room Hilton Garden Inn adjacent to the Julian Carroll Convention Center.  The six-story hotel will have a restaurant, pool, fitness center, and meeting spaces on the top floor overlooking Paducah.  The hotel is a $19 million project with the City of Paducah assisting in the financing.  In June 2014, the Kentucky Tourism Finance Authority approved up to $4.5 million in incentives in the form of a sales tax rebate.  For more information about the hotel, visit www.paducahky.gov.

Information provided by Pam Spencer, Paducah Information Officer.    

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