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New debate has been sparked about the direction of downtown's future. One idea to save downtown is a new convention center, but not everyone is convinced this is a good idea.

A proposed conference center has downtown excited.

The city of St. Joseph has plans for 35,000 square feet of usable space. The building would be located at the current Holiday Inn parking lot at Third and Felix streets. The conference center would have exhibit space, ballroom space and at least five meeting rooms. A skywalk would connect the much larger center with the existing St. Joseph Civic Arena.

A study by Hunden Strategic Partners on St. Joseph’s downtown showed that the conference center would benefit the community. But it’s not the sole key to the success of downtown, said Clint Thompson, the city’s director of planning and community development.

“It’s not just going to be one thing or another,” he said. “It’s doing something that’s bigger than what we’ve been doing downtown. Our job is not done.”

Mr. Thompson said the proposed center would coexist with the St. Joseph Civic Arena, booking events simultaneously.

A flourishing downtown was one of the city councils’ goals and is also a part of the Downtown Revitalization and Economic Assistance for Missouri Initiative.

“I think we’re starting to get on the right track,” said Marci Bennett, president of the St. Joseph Convention and Visitor’s Bureau. “We’ve not been able to focus upon one corridor and then move on to the next corridor and we’ve been piecemealing things.”

In recent years, several new businesses have joined downtown and each owner said they wanted to be apart of the anticipated growth.

“Anything that’ll bring traffic here is good for downtown as far as I’m concerned,” said Geneo DeSpain, owner of Geneo’s Pizza and Pub on Francis Street.

The St. Joseph native owns a few buildings downtown and the idea of a downtown conference center and future entertainment district gives him hope for the area.

“It would be very positive and would bring in more people who would eat down here,” he said. “We would sure appreciate the business.”

Investing money into downtown projects has worked for other communities and could work for St. Joseph according to several business owners, residents and community leaders.

“Activity breeds other activity,” said Larry Buck, president of the St. Joseph Downtown Association. “It goes without saying.”

However, Ms. Bennett is a little skeptical the city has adequate hotel and parking accommodations for the center and believes hotels and entertainment venues need to be part of the broader plan.

Mr. Buck said private developers are working to add hotel rooms in some of the vacant buildings downtown.

“That would be wonderful and wouldn’t create a tax burden on the people,” he said. “It’s no question that (visitors) would prefer to stay downtown.”

The study revealed that at least 300 rooms would be needed for the conference center to be feasible. Mr. Thompson said the city has plans for both parking and rooms. A possible renovation of under-utilized space in the American Electric building north of the proposed complex is one option.

Ms. Bennett said that when meeting planners look at a city to host particular events, they not only look at the site for the meeting but proximity of hotel rooms, shopping, restaurants and other entertainment.

“I’m not sure we have the population for those kinds of things,” Ms. Bennett said.

Mr. Thompson said there are four financial factors for the downtown convention center. A Missouri Downtown Economic Stimulus Act is state funding that can only be utilized in downtowns and would be used for construction. Tax increment financing could be used for the purpose of an entertainment area as well as a community improvement district tax to address parking and security issues downtown. CID is usually a sales tax or property tax.

A hotel tax has also been debated. St. Joseph hotels are currently taxed at 3 percent. Buchanan County also has big plans for those dollars: an agricultural expo center to be located on the east side of town.

Compared to centers in Kansas City and even St. Louis, the civic arena cannot house the larger events.

“We certainly need more meeting space,” Ms. Bennett said. “We turn people away all the time because we don’t have a facility for them. The size of the civic arena really limits what we can go after.”

Sherry Conard, who works downtown, said she would love to see the area filled with people, traffic, store fronts and beautiful landscaping, something she misses from her years spent in other parts of the country.

“Downtowns are always the place to be,” she said of other cities. “With us being so close to the river and all, you’d think someone would hone in on that.”

Ultimately, the city council will decide whether or not to invest in downtown. City staff plan to present the information regarding the conference center to the council within the next 60 days.

Business reporter Jennifer Hall can be reached at jennhall@npgco.com.