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Franklin County Convention Facilities Authority warns of $250M+ facility needs, asks FRAC to protect and grow bed tax
Summary
The CFA presented facility needs at the Greater Columbus Convention Center, Hilton Columbus Downtown and Nationwide Arena, outlined a $400 million arena renovation and said current revenue flows and incentives are not sufficient to sustain competitiveness.
Ken Paul, executive director of the Franklin County Convention Facilities Authority, told the Funding Review Advisory Committee that Columbus’s convention and arena infrastructure needs immediate, sustained reinvestment and asked the committee to "protect and grow the bed tax."
Paul described the CFA as an independent entity operating under the Ohio Revised Code and said the authority manages significant public debt and facilities that underpin the city’s travel economy. He listed assets that include the Greater Columbus Convention Center, the Hilton Columbus Downtown, Nationwide Arena and six parking facilities. Paul said the convention center campus totals about 1.8 million square feet with 447,000 square feet of exhibit space and more than 4,700 adjacent parking spaces.
The CFA said the convention center hosted more than 260 events and roughly 780,000 visitors in 2024, and it is advancing a $100,000,000 capital program but that a recent facilities condition assessment identified needs exceeding $250,000,000. For…
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