Mar. 23, 2003 - Downtown Oklahoma City is expected to have 1,200 hotel rooms in the next couple of years, reaching the "critical mass" necessary for attracting bigger conventions and more sporting events. 

But will it be enough? 

Some organizers scouting Oklahoma City for future events say it may be too early to tell. 

Meanwhile, local sports and development officials contend the city is well positioned to be one of the cities bidding this summer for the Big 12 basketball tournament rotation -- joining Dallas, Denver, Kansas City, Mo., or San Antonio as possible hosts starting in 2006. 

"As long as the (Big 12) conference will continue to move it around, we'll be in the running," said Tim Brassfield, executive director of Oklahoma City All Sports Association. The group, along with the University of Oklahoma, hosted this week's NCAA men's basketball tournament subregional games in Oklahoma City. 

With triple the teams -- 12 men's and 12 women's -- of NCAA subregionals and six days of almost nonstop basketball, hosting the Big 12 basketball tournament would be a major boon for the city. 

This year's NCAA subregionals are expected to bring in about $21 million to the local economy, according to estimates by the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce. Kansas City, home to conference basketball tournaments for 56 years, saw about $30 million in extra spending from the annual show down. 

Local development and sports officials point to the 19,675-seat Ford Center and the Cox Convention Center arena across the street -- along with Bricktown restaurants and hotels -- as the best package offered by potential host cities. They're also confident about the city's central location among Big 12 schools and few traffic snarls. 

Oklahoma City's history of hosting the Big 12 baseball and softball tournaments, as well as College World Series games and NCAA basketball tournament games are also factors, Brassfield said. The city will host NCAA basketball subregionals in 2005 and the NCAA wrestling tournament in 2006. 

But hotel capacity remains a sticking point, even with two downtown hotels under construction and the historic, but abandoned, Skirvin Hotel about to be renovated. In all, the city has about 12,000 hotel and motel rooms. 

Lately, the buzzwords have been "quality hotels." For Big 12 officials, that doesn't just mean the difference between motels and hotels. It means catering facilities, the availability of late-night room service and full-service restaurants on the premises. 

"There's plenty of good hotel rooms in Oklahoma City, but our teams have been accustomed to a certain level of facilities at these tournaments," said Tim Allen, associate commissioner of the Big 12 conference and tournament director. "We're not questioning the quality of hotel rooms in Oklahoma City, I just don't know if there's enough nearby (downtown). That's something we're doing the due diligence on." 

It's not just the teams and their fans. The media, conference directors and corporate partners also need to be close to the action, Allen said. Universities also find it easier to budget when hotels can offer "master billing," combining catering, room and other costs. 

Other problems, sources familiar with the bidding requirements said, are the relatively small lobbies of current downtown hotels. Fans and tournament organizers could find it hard to meet and mingle between games, adding to hosting costs as other meeting areas would need to be rented by organizers or alumni groups. 

Meanwhile, Allen cautioned that a host of other factors would go into making the final selections. Exactly what the conference requires would be detailed when bid packages go out later this year, he said. 

Devery Youngblood, executive director of Downtown Oklahoma City Inc., said if hotel rooms are the only sticking point, it's becoming a moot point. 

When they're complete, Ford Center neighbor The Courtyard by Marriott (225 rooms), the Bricktown Holiday Inn and Suites (151 rooms) and about 150 rooms in a renovated Skirvin would push hotel availability past 1,200 rooms. They would join the 400-room Westin Hotel and 311-room Renaissance Hotel, which are already downtown. 

"That should be the final impediment to downtown Oklahoma City playing a far more consistent role in being the place where championships are played," said Youngblood, who added that about a half-dozen sites downtown are under "serious consideration" for other hotel developments. 

Outside of downtown, more hotels are planned on the city's northwest side along Memorial Road and along Meridian Avenue on the southwest side. 

"It's not like we're Houston and need enough rooms to deal with a facility the size of Reliant Stadium," said Bill Davis, owner of the 509-room Biltmore Hotel at Interstate 40 and Meridian. "We have an abundance of fine, first-rate hotel rooms in relation to the seating capacity of the Ford Center." 

For Mike Hembree, executive committee chairman of the Oklahoma Hotel & Lodging Association, the focus on downtown hotel development isn't a problem for other area hoteliers. 

"The growth is on its way, and we firmly believe that a rising tide will lift all boats," he said. 

Meanwhile, the extra hotel rooms also could put Oklahoma City at the lower end of "second-tier" convention cities -- in the same league as cities such as Indianapolis and Denver. 

Conventions are every bit as important to city officials and merchants, although they don't carry the same exposure as sporting events. Overnight visitors spend an average of $125 per day in the city, according to conservative estimates by a consulting firm hired by the City of Oklahoma City. Daily visitors spend about a fourth of that, or $31 per person. 

Officials point to downtown expansion as being a factor in booking June's National Square Dance Association convention, which is expected to draw 10,000 visitors to the city. That would make it among the city's largest-ever conventions. 

"These things tend to evolve over time," Youngblood said of hotel expansion. "As we have the opportunity to host these types of events, it will encourage more and better quality hotels to locate here. I'm confident other things will start to fall in place." 

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