Fargo committee narrows convention center program: 50,000‑sq.-ft. main room, large catering kitchen and liquor‑license questions

Charlie, a Visit Fargo Moorhead staffer, opened the meeting by outlining next steps for the convention center planning process and said the group would post comparison renderings and planning documents on the Visit Fargo Moorhead website.

The committee’s substantive debate focused on the size and flexibility of the main event space and on whether to include a fully functional on‑site catering kitchen and how liquor‑license arrangements could be structured to affect hotel developer bids and long‑term revenue.

Members said they want a large, divisible main room; several participants cited a target of about 50,000 square feet, with 40,000 as a lower bound. Charlie said the group has “been pretty regular in saying … we need a big room that’s hopefully 50,000 square feet, certainly at least 40,000 plus, that could be dividable in two.” Proponents argued a single large divisible space would allow both ballroom and exhibit uses and make the building more flexible for concerts and sporting events.

Ken Kolstad, President of LiveWire, cautioned against a permanent proscenium stage, describing the Minneapolis facility’s built‑in stage as “a theatrical proscenium stage … very permanent in nature” and saying a permanent stage limits layout customization. Multiple speakers favored portable staging and strong ceiling rigging and power so clients and…