OCEAN CITY – Just months after the second phase of the Roland E. Powell Convention Center’s most recent expansion project was completed, Ocean City is requesting the state partner up in studying the potential of Phase III that will expand the exhibit hall.
Before the Mayor and City Council on Tuesday, City Engineer Terry McGean explained the Town of Ocean City’s Strategic Plan identifies the expansion of the convention center on main exhibit hall as a top priority.
“The first step in that process is to work with the Maryland Stadium Authority to conduct an economic and marketing feasibility study for the potential expansion,” McGean said. “The consultant will look at our other venues in determining if we should expand, how we should expand, how big we should expand, what facilities we should be looking at and how much revenue would be generated both direct and indirect.”
According to McGean, he and Convention Center Director Larry Noccolino have met with the Maryland Stadium Authority (MSA) and economic consultant Crossroads Consulting Services to discuss the project and develop a scope of services and proposal for the study. The proposed study will examine existing and future markets for the facility, interview current building users, examine industry trends, recommend potential expansion concepts, including parking impacts along with cost estimates and analyze the state and local economic impact of a proposed expansion.
The study will cost a total of $70,000, of which the town will pay $35,000 from the General Fund with MSA covering the other half.
“I know it seems very soon but it is a long process to go through. It has to go through the MSA and the State of Maryland Board of Public Works just to get the study done,” McGean said.
Council Secretary Mary Knight made a motion to formally request the Maryland Stadium Authority to assess the market and economic feasibility of expanding the Convention Center and to share half the cost of the study with the city. The council voted unanimously to approve.
During discussion, Councilman Dennis Dare pointed out when the first feasibility study for the convention center was conducted prior to its first expansion the consultant had recommended building the exhibit hall twice the square footage than what was built.
“We decided on the side of being conservative to go with half of what the study recommended. You can ask any of our major clients from the Seaside Boat Show to the Maryland Municipal League, they could use a lot more exhibit space. I am glad we are moving forward on this. It means a bigger return for the Town of Ocean City’s businesses,” Dare said.
The Roland E. Powell Convention Center located on 40th Street was built in 1970 with two renovations taking place prior to the most recent expansion project that kicked off in 2011.
At the end of January 2013, the Town of Ocean City celebrated the completion of the first phase, revealing the new Bay Front Ballroom and Trimper Dockside Exhibit Hall.
The Bay Front Ballroom is on the building’s second floor with its entire back wall covered in floor-to-ceiling windows as it faces the bay. The Trimper Dockside Exhibit Hall is directly below the ballroom on the first floor, is similar in size and also takes advantage of the bay view.
The 32,000-square-foot, first-phase expansion was a $9 million expense with $5 million paid by the Town of Ocean City with a half of a cent on the resort’s food tax rate dedicated to the project and the remaining $4.3 million paid by the MSA.
The construction of the Performing Arts Center (PAC) represented the second phase of the convention center’s expansion, beginning in October of 2013 with demolition work in the old sections of Hall C on the ground floor of the convention center and a demising wall going up on the second floor in what used to be part of Halls A and B. The floor-to-ceiling demising wall separates the bayfront ballroom on the second floor.
The new PAC opened in December and will host concerts, musicals and theatrical productions as well as seminars with its state-of-the-art equipment and two tiered seating featuring a little over 1,200 seats, dressing rooms, concession areas and a box office.
Phase II cost $14 million and was also funded in part by the MSA with $5.7 million and the Town of Ocean City funding the remaining $8.3 million through a 2013 bond.
Currently, the Main Exhibit Hall is made up of Hall A and Hall B that totals over 45,000 square feet of column-free space with 30-foot high ceilings.