Public Facilities District presents master plan to expand Cowlitz County Events Center; seeks county bond support for phase 1

Bob Gregory, project manager for the Cowlitz County Public Facilities District, presented the PFD’s preferred master plan for the Cowlitz County Events Center and asked the county to review debt-financing support for phase 1 improvements.

Gregory and PFD board members described a multi-phase plan that retains the fair and core event-center functions while adding facilities intended to increase year-round events and regional economic impact. The preferred concept includes conference-center renovations and a modest 3,500-square-foot expansion, a hotel site adjacent to the existing center, a new 40,000-square-foot multipurpose sports-and-exhibit building on roughly 7 acres west of Seventh Avenue, equestrian-area upgrades, RV-park renovations, improved wayfinding and storage, and a community plaza to link a future hotel with the event center.

Gregory summarized stakeholder outreach (event users, entertainment and sports groups, hoteliers, businesses and local governments) and said survey work and benchmarking showed demand for indoor multipurpose sports space, more breakout rooms, upgraded technology and lodging. He emphasized that the fair is a core function the master plan preserves and that the multipurpose building would enable year-round sports, trade shows and other events to attract out-of-area visitors.

Bronson Potter, PFD attorney, reviewed financing and legal constraints and told the board the PFD has two revenue sources: a retained sales tax authorized by state law (about one-third of 1 percent retained locally) and a voter-approved 1% lodging tax. Potter said the retained sales tax generated over $1,000,000 in 2024 and the lodging tax generated over $200,000 in 2024. He explained state statutes restrict how those revenues may be used and said the PFD may spend revenues only on PFD facilities and the regional center.

Gregory and Potter asked the county to consider issuing bonds to fund phase 1 because the county’s stronger bond rating would allow larger issuance at lower interest rates. The county’s finance adviser estimated county-issued bonds could support roughly $12–13 million of issuance under the expected coverage rules; Potter said the PFD itself could likely issue only about $7 million. The PFD asked the county finance committee to review and make a recommendation on issuing bonds for phase 1, with a target recommendation by the end of April and a county decision point by June to keep the project schedule on track.

The PFD said it has hired Parametrics as owner’s representative for phase 1 design-build and that the PFD plans to deliver a phase 1 design-build procurement based on the available budget. Phase 1 scope as presented includes event-center renovations, conference-center expansion, storage and wayfinding, site improvements and an RV-park renovation (the county previously awarded a $1,000,000 grant that supports RV park work).

Potter said that, if the county agrees to finance bonds for phase 1, the county and PFD will need to amend the interlocal agreement (entered in 2003) to address updated financing, the design and the footprint for a multipurpose facility; the PFD also said it will need a lease for the multipurpose footprint to show the facility is a PFD facility under state law. The presentation also noted a required independent feasibility review conducted by the State Department of Commerce will be part of the state process for approving the PFD’s project.

Commissioners expressed general support for moving forward with further review, subject to due diligence on county priorities and other capital needs (Commissioner Dahl asked about avoiding overlap with Hall of Justice options). Treasurer Deborah Gardner and county finance staff said they would convene the county finance committee to examine the request and return a recommendation. No bond issuance decision was made at the meeting.

Ending: The board instructed staff to convene finance staff for analysis; the PFD will continue design-build procurement work for phase 1 and the parties will begin work on interlocal-agreement amendments and required state reviews to meet the requested schedule.