Ashland officials weigh two downtown sites for $35M–$42M conference center; public feedback sought

Ashland commissioners on May 13 heard a detailed presentation from AP3 consultants comparing two downtown locations for a proposed conference center and asked staff to return with operating-cost estimates before making a final site decision.

Monica, an AP3 consultant, told the Board of City Commissioners that the Paramount-site concept would yield the largest contiguous ballroom and easier service access, while a hotel-adjacent site would reduce parking impacts but produce smaller, less flexible event space. “We have 297 total parking spaces available from option 1 and 264 total parking spaces on option 2,” Monica said, summarizing parking counts prepared May 6.

The debate matters because the sites differ sharply in capacity, cost and downtown parking impacts. The Paramount option was shown with an 11,300-square-foot ballroom that AP3 said could be increased toward 12,000 square feet; the hotel site’s ballroom ranged from about 5,600 to 6,550 square feet. AP3 gave preliminary…