Interview with Fargo Mayor Dr. Tim Mahoney
Interview with Fargo-Moorhead CVB President and CEO Charley Johnson
(FARGO, ND) – A group of stakeholders met Friday at the Fargo City Hall to discuss the process of a Request for Proposals for a voter-approved convention center project in the community.
The convention center, when completed, would be owned by the City of Fargo, according to Mayor Dr. Tim Mahoney.
“The convention center would be owned by the city, but we don’t quite know if there is a partnership we could have,” he said. The partnership would be similar to a private-public partnership (P3).
The convention center would allow the City of Fargo to attract large conventions and meetings, such as the North Dakota League of Cities and North Dakota Association of Counties, according to Fargo-Moorhead Convention and Visitors Bureau President and CEO Charley Johnson.
“Those two things are among those that we feel pretty confident we’d be able to get into the rotation for that we haven’t been able to for the last 10 years,” he said. “There are many other events like those around the state and the communities. We’ll be able to attract regional events, too.”
Johnson said the facility may never make money.
“That’s why cities have to build them,” he said. “The idea is to bring larger groups of people into town. They spend money at the hotels, they spend money at bars and restaurants, they spend money shopping, they buy gasoline. Any way you can think of to spend money, visitors do it.”
Johnson said a convention center ‘should bring in more than enough’ economic impact to give a big lift to the community.
