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Las Cruces wants a convention center. The results of a survey of 402 residents by Albuquerque firm Research and Polling Inc. were released in a public meeting on the proposed center Thursday night at City Hall. And according to the survey, 70 percent of residents either strongly support or somewhat support the idea of a multipurpose convention-events-civic center. Only 21 percent said they're either strongly or somewhat against. "So when it comes to the general question of whether Las Crucens are for it or against it, we found a vast majority of people support a convention center facility," said Brian Sanderoff of Research and Polling Inc. Most of those in support said it would be good for the local economy, furthering tourism and economic development, and would satisfy the city's need for convention space. Though several hotels offer convention space, Las Cruces is the largest city in New Mexico without a convention or civic center. Sanderoff said the survey, conducted March 23-25, included 402 respondents, and was demographically representative of the community, ultimately showing "that today, a majority of people support the notion." That support dropped off a few percentage points when it came to the center being funded by taxpayer dollars -- 69 percent said they support using the existing lodgers' tax, while 22 percent oppose that. And 62 percent support using city general fund monies to subsidize the facility, while 28 percent were against it being city-funded. Somewhat surprisingly, almost half of respondents said they wouldn't mind if the city ran the center, with 31 percent saying a private company should do it. A little more telling is the degree of awareness of the proposed center among respondents. About 23 percent said they were "very aware" of the proposal, and 42 percent said they were somewhat familiar with it. Almost 36 percent said they knew nothing at all about it. Sanderoff said of those who were very aware, there was still a majority in support of the concept, though less than the 70 percent of the entire sample. Unlike the last public input meeting two months ago, where the city's consultants KPMG were deluged with voices adamantly against the convention center, particularly one funded with tax dollars, that crowd was nowhere to be seen, or heard Thursday. Proponent Jerry Harrell of the Double Eagle Restaurant said that's probably because they heard the survey numbers were going to be positive. "I expected the support to be in the 60 (percent range), but 70 percent shows the overwhelming support," Harrell said. He also said the positive findings should empower city leaders to move ahead with the idea, which has been stalled for years in large part due to a relatively small group that at one point led a petition drive that caused the city council to rescind a $2.50 a night hotel surcharge intended to pay for the center. "Something like this gives them cover," Harrell said. Councilor Steve Trowbridge, who has supported the convention center idea, agreed the survey results give credence to moving forward, particularly the second phase of study. That portion of study will involve deeper market analysis and developing possible sites and conceptual designs. "I've always believed in the feasibility of this, and I think that's what the survey highlighted. If the margin was 50-50, there would probably be more debate," Trowbridge said. "To me, we're on track." Tom Hutchinson, former chairman of the convention center committee, agreed with Harrell, that it should give "the council confidence to move forward." If the council passes the surcharge mechanism again, there's always a possibility another petition drive would be launched, and that only needs about 1,500 signatures of registered city voters to be successful. But Hutchinson said the public probably won't buy it this time. "It would be seen as obstructionist instead of recognizing what the public wants," Hutchinson said. The following are some of the results of a Research and Polling Inc. of Albuquerque survey of 402 city residents March 23-25: --Support or oppose the proposed development of a multi-purpose convention-events-civic center: 49 percent strongly support it, 21 percent somewhat support it, 14 percent strongly against it, and 7 percent somewhat against it, 8 percent are neutral. --Likelihood of supporting it if funded with the lodgers tax: 44 percent strongly support it, 25 percent said somewhat, 15 percent strongly against it, 7 percent said somewhat, 6 percent were neutral --Likelihood to support it if it involves using city funds: 27 percent said they would strongly support that, 35 percent said somewhat, 20 percent said they were strongly against using city funds; 8 percent said somewhat, 6 to 10 percent were neutral or said they didn't know --Preferred operator of the facility: 49 percent said they want the city to run it, 31 percent said they want a private company to run it, 20 percent said they were neutral, didn't know or didn't want either to run it --Knowledge about the city of Las Cruces proposal to build a convention-event-civic center: 23 percent very aware, 42 percent a little, 35 percent not aware at all -- 64 percent said there will be benefits of development of a center: Good for economic development, Will bring tourism to the city, The city needs more convention space, Will attract new business to the city -- 13 percent said there will be drawbacks: Not enough demand for this type of facility, City has other urgent needs --What design elements are very important for the center to have? 50 percent said exhibit space for events or conventions, 39 percent said performing space for community visual or arts groups, 35 percent said meeting rooms, 35 percent want a small auditorium for presentations, 33 percent want a ballroom for social events. ----- To see more of the Las Cruces Sun-News, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.lcsun-news.com. Copyright (c) 2005, Las Cruces Sun-News, N.M. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail [email protected]. |
| Also See: | American Property Management Corp. Adding 100 rooms, Expanding Convention Space at Las Cruces Hilton / January 2004 |