It’s time to expand the Convention Center

Downtown Columbia is very different today than it was before the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center was built, with many more restaurants and hotels. The center played an important part in that revitalization.

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Why won’t Columbia host a national Corvette convention? Blame our small convention center

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It also has been a significant economic engine for the Columbia region, bringing in tourists, visitors and conventions, and it has generated millions of dollars in economic impact.

The $37.4 million center was the result of a successful partnership between Columbia, Richland and Lexington counties, Richland School District One, USC and the state Transportation Department. While it is a success today, there were decades of failed efforts to build it. We eventually acquired the old SMI Owen Steel Co. site where the Convention Center and the Colonial Life Center now sit, and all the governments worked together for a funding plan that included accommodations taxes and a tax-increment finance district.

The State wrote at the groundbreaking in 2002 that “the ceremony marked the symbolic end of years of regional divisiveness over the convention center.” Bill Dukes, who led the effort to build the Convention Center from the private sector, noted that the project “does not represent a river that divides, but a river that has been bridged,” and “the potential our regional community has if everyone works together in harmony.”

While the financing will be challenging, there is a clear and compelling economic need to expand the center: Attendance has increased each year. It is the smallest convention center in the state, and we are losing large conventions every week because we do not have enough exhibition space. The Convention Center was built to be enlarged and expanded to another 75,000 square feet of exhibit space.

Few locals have been in the Convention Center and not admired the beauty of the building and terrace. It’s a wonderful venue for residents and visitors alike to enjoy conferences, sports events, concerts, graduations, restaurants and USC alumni events. Now is the time to build upon that success and expand the Convention Center.

This story was originally published August 13, 2016 at 2:12 PM with the headline "It’s time to expand the Convention Center."