St. Cloud River’s Edge Convention Center could grow
St. Cloud officials will find out soon if the River’s Edge Convention Center parking ramp project includes additional space to be built for the center.
The city is currently seeking a general contractor to build a 400- to 450-stall parking ramp to support the recently expanded River’s Edge Convention Center at 10 Fourth Ave. S. in downtown St. Cloud.
If the bids come in low enough and the project’s $11.56 million budget allows, the scope will include an additional 15,000 square feet of convention center space for programs and exhibits.
“That is our hope,” said Tony Goddard, director of the city-owned River’s Edge Convention Center. “We won’t really know until the bids come back.”
Bids are due May 5. Construction is expected to begin in earnest by the end of that month, though work has already started on project-related street improvements, which were awarded under a separate contract, Goddard said.
The parking garage marks the final phase of St. Cloud’s convention center expansion plans, which have been in the works for years.
In January 2012, the city completed a $22 million expansion that doubled the size of the building, which now has 180,000 square feet of space, 60,000 square feet of continuous exhibit space and a 16,000-square-foot ballroom.
After years of unsuccessful efforts to gets state bonding money for the project, the city did the expansion on its own with a food and beverage tax.
But last spring’s state bonding bill included $11.56 million for the parking facility and other improvements.
Goddard said the parking is sorely needed. When a major event is in town, especially on weekdays, nearby ramps are full or nearly full, which leaves limited options for convention-goers, he said.
St. Cloud-based HMA is working with the city on the design, which has undergone significant changes since last spring.
A previous plan called for the ramp to be built on a small surface parking lot across the street from the convention center, Goddard said. That plan was scrapped in favor of a new design, which puts the ramp on a larger footprint.
Under the original plan, the parking structure would have been seven or eight stories tall — compared with five stories in the current design. “It seemed out of scale with the rest of downtown,” Goddard said.
Goddard said the basic 400-stall parking structure is expected to cost at least $8.5 million, but it could be closer to $10 million. If the budget allows, the parking structure may be expanded to include up to 450 stalls.
The convention center drew about 275,000 visitors annually before the 2012 expansion, and by 2018 it’s expected to attract more than 431,000 per year, Goddard said. The future attendance is based on an estimate from Convention, Sports & Leisure International, a Texas-based consulting firm.
Since the initial expansion was completed three years ago, the city has seen an uptick in convention business and “revival” of the city’s downtown, St. Cloud Mayor Dave Kleis said in an interview.
“We have seen restaurants and retail and more activity downtown than we have seen in a long time,” he said.
Reported by: finance-commerce.com
The city is currently seeking a general contractor to build a 400- to 450-stall parking ramp to support the recently expanded River’s Edge Convention Center at 10 Fourth Ave. S. in downtown St. Cloud.
If the bids come in low enough and the project’s $11.56 million budget allows, the scope will include an additional 15,000 square feet of convention center space for programs and exhibits.
“That is our hope,” said Tony Goddard, director of the city-owned River’s Edge Convention Center. “We won’t really know until the bids come back.”
Bids are due May 5. Construction is expected to begin in earnest by the end of that month, though work has already started on project-related street improvements, which were awarded under a separate contract, Goddard said.
The parking garage marks the final phase of St. Cloud’s convention center expansion plans, which have been in the works for years.
In January 2012, the city completed a $22 million expansion that doubled the size of the building, which now has 180,000 square feet of space, 60,000 square feet of continuous exhibit space and a 16,000-square-foot ballroom.
After years of unsuccessful efforts to gets state bonding money for the project, the city did the expansion on its own with a food and beverage tax.
But last spring’s state bonding bill included $11.56 million for the parking facility and other improvements.
Goddard said the parking is sorely needed. When a major event is in town, especially on weekdays, nearby ramps are full or nearly full, which leaves limited options for convention-goers, he said.
St. Cloud-based HMA is working with the city on the design, which has undergone significant changes since last spring.
A previous plan called for the ramp to be built on a small surface parking lot across the street from the convention center, Goddard said. That plan was scrapped in favor of a new design, which puts the ramp on a larger footprint.
Under the original plan, the parking structure would have been seven or eight stories tall — compared with five stories in the current design. “It seemed out of scale with the rest of downtown,” Goddard said.
Goddard said the basic 400-stall parking structure is expected to cost at least $8.5 million, but it could be closer to $10 million. If the budget allows, the parking structure may be expanded to include up to 450 stalls.
The convention center drew about 275,000 visitors annually before the 2012 expansion, and by 2018 it’s expected to attract more than 431,000 per year, Goddard said. The future attendance is based on an estimate from Convention, Sports & Leisure International, a Texas-based consulting firm.
Since the initial expansion was completed three years ago, the city has seen an uptick in convention business and “revival” of the city’s downtown, St. Cloud Mayor Dave Kleis said in an interview.
“We have seen restaurants and retail and more activity downtown than we have seen in a long time,” he said.
Reported by: finance-commerce.com
