Fargo committee outlines RFP goals, space and financing parameters for proposed convention center

The Fargo Convention Center Committee met to set initial requirements and process steps for a proposed convention center, agreeing on minimum program elements, financing assumptions and an RFP timeline.

Committee members said the planning team should define minimum space needs — including a large dividable hall, breakout rooms, back-of-house facilities and at least one attached hotel — and gather operation and finance data from comparable facilities before issuing a request for proposals. The group also directed staff to assemble materials on finances and operations, to consider bonding and tax incentives as possibilities, and to produce a draft RFP for review within about 30 days.

The meeting, led by Charlie Johnson, president and CEO of Visit Fargo Moorhead, and attended by Mayor Tim Mahoney and city staff, centered on the technical requirements the RFP will ask bidders to meet. Johnson outlined recommended minimums based on recent consultant work: a large, dividable 50,000-square-foot multipurpose hall (described as roughly 25,000 square feet of exhibit space and 25,000 square feet of ballroom space), roughly 20,000 square feet of breakout meeting rooms (6–12 flexible rooms),…