Convention Center Not Up To Expectations
 

The praise and promises that accompanied the January 2006 opening of the $100 million Shreveport Convention Center seemed a precursor to an economic boom.

When/why did everybody decide to just round up the price of the building to $100MM? The construction budget (with change orders and options) was around $75MM and land acquisition/demolition was around $5MM.

20 million here, 20 million there, pretty soon it starts to add up to some real money. :)

There is a easy fix ya know brother ! Tax that business man more on his property and that will fill the short fall. The city of Shreveport needs to try to sell that thing and get out of the business of hotels and take care of the problems in this town. :nono: :nono: Keith Hightower left his mark on this city like a tom cat ! :eek: :eek:

>The city of Shreveport needs to try to sell that thing and get out of the business of hotels and take care of the problems in this town.

That article is about the convention center, not the hotel.

It's probably the protein rendering smell that keeps people away.

Either way the city needs to take care of other things not a hotel or convention center.

The City of Shreveport and its citizens will be paying for having had Hightower in office for years to come. How many lawsuits does the city have against it because of Hightower and his decisions? How much money does the city owe on those? Now you have the debacle of the Convention center and the Hotel. It leaves you scratching your head and wondering what's next? Furthermore, look at the white flight. Where is the city going to get the tax dollars to pay for things if all the high wage earners are living across the river?

I don't know how true this is, but I once heard that Shreveport is $1B in debt. That is approx $4k for every man, woman, and child in the city. Give or take....

I believe that figure was widely publicized and accepted during the mayoral race. I don't doubt it's close to accurate.

>How many lawsuits does the city have against it because of Hightower and his decisions? How much money does the city owe on those?

I don't know, how many/how much?

I know there are many. The first few that come to mind are the one over Independence Stadium, there is one over some land down around the River/Bayou area, the Whitaker construction suit, and the Waste Management issue. Those are just the first few that came to mind. How much is that all costing the city?

As an out of towner, I much prefer shopping in Shreveport. Shreveport is more attractive than Bossier. Something is happening with all the new development on Youree Drive. There are many charming neighborhoods in Shreveport. If Shreveport could get control of the crime situation, it would be a good place to live. It has good medical facilities. Why is there white flight to Bossier?

I've seen more neighborhoods degrade over the last 30 years.
what was once a really nice neighborhood.. one you wouldn't mind your kid riding their bicycle around in.. into a neighborhood, you wouldn't want to be caught driving through, much less walking through.

Some 10 years ago, I was living on E. Washington, between youree and clyde fant.. the sound of drive by shootings got closer and closer until one day a car stopped at the stop sign outside my house and unloaded his gun and then drove off. So not a neighborhood I wanted to raise my kids in.

Granted, that section of E. Washington is not all that bad.. but the encroaching neighborhood's violence kept getting closer and closer. I ended up moving north of Shreveport out of the city limits.. got more for my money, larger home, larger lott. And I get to drive by farms on the way to work, instead of fooling with youree drive and the like :)

Good public neighborhood schools and low crime rates are the major factors.
I too shop in Shreveport and think it is nicer to look at (well some parts) and all of our doctors are over the bridge too. BC has a safe small town feel still to it at least in my neighborhood and others are picking up on that.:)