Travis County voters gave county government the go-ahead last week to rebuild the aging exposition center on Decker Lane, but it could be a decade before the project breaks ground. County Proposition A, which passed with 63 percent of the vote, authorized the county to levy up to a 2 percent hotel tax to fund […]
Austin Convention Center
This city department operates the downtown convention center and associated events.
Posted inBonds & Propositions
Music advocates seen as key in defeat of Proposition B
Updated: 12:20 a.m.: Austin voters have defeated a ballot measure that sought to restructure how the city spends its Hotel Occupancy Tax revenue, and would have forced a public vote on a proposed expansion of the Austin Convention Center. The vote count just after midnight on Election Night showed a clear loss for the Proposition […]
Posted inAustin
Eyeing hotel tax dollars, Music Commission signs on to support convention center
With City Council set to consider two items on Thursday related to the proposed expansion of the Austin Convention Center, the Austin Music Commission voted last week to support the plan, which is projected to cost more than $1 billion from the city’s Hotel Occupancy Tax funds. At the 7-2 vote, commission members Jonathan “Chaka” […]
Posted inCourts
State court calls city’s convention center ballot language ‘misleading’
The 3rd Court of Appeals has ruled that the city must make two changes to recently approved ballot language related to an attempt to limit city spending on the Austin Convention Center. In a ruling issued Thursday, the court of appeals for the third district of Texas issued an opinion that City Council omitted a […]
Posted inLocal Politics
Save Our Springs backers among major supporters of anti-convention center PAC
Campaign finance reports filed Monday showed that longtime members and financial supporters of the Save Our Springs Alliance have pledged the bulk of the funding that is supporting a political action committee attempting to force a public vote on the proposed expansion of the Austin Convention Center. The report for Unconventional Austin, the PAC that […]
Posted inLocal Politics
PAC files petition to put Austin Convention Center expansion to a public vote
The city’s proposal to expand the Austin Convention Center could be on the ballot in November. A group opposing City Council’s decision to build out the center says it submitted a 30,000-signature petition calling for a referendum that would force a public vote as the city moves ahead with the plan. The political action committee […]
Posted inAustin
Convention center proponents eyeing new PAC to challenge expected ballot question
Mayor Steve Adler’s former campaign manager is preparing to launch a political action committee to lobby in favor of the proposed expansion of the Austin Convention Center if a group pushing a ballot question challenging the expansion succeeds in its petition drive. The group wants to force a public vote on the expansion as well […]
Posted inCity Council
Council OKs Palm School, convention center ideas
In a stunning victory for Mayor Steve Adler and Council Member Kathie Tovo, the Austin City Council on Thursday unanimously approved a 27-page resolution directing city staff to gather all the information necessary to move forward with an extensive renovation and expansion of the convention center as well as preservation of an important part of […]
Posted inPlanning
City eyes Palm School, bigger convention center
City Council Member Kathie Tovo, with assistance from Mayor Steve Adler, has produced a 23-page resolution outlining Council’s desire to create a plan for the southeast part of downtown, including use of the Palm School for cultural programming and expansion of the city’s convention center. The resolution is set for consideration on Council’s May 23 […]
Posted inRadio
Austin Monitor Radio: The Convention Center
Confused by all the talk about whether or not to expand the convention center? Fear not, the Austin Monitor has you covered. In this throwback episode (which was recorded prior to the release of the University of Texas report), we look at the pros and cons of expanding the Austin Convention Center. Former mayoral aide […]
Posted inCity Council
Council hears convention center options, with work sessions on deck
City Council members heard many of the gritty details Tuesday on the question of whether or not to expand the Austin Convention Center. The special meeting came after last week’s arrival of a long-awaited study from the University of Texas School of Architecture that examined how a westward expansion of the facility could reopen and […]
Posted inAustin
Report offers options but no recommendations for convention center
The University of Texas analysis of the city’s options for expanding the Austin Convention Center – including the costs and effects of taking no action – paint the facility as the likely hub in a variety of development plans going on throughout downtown Austin. The options for significantly expanding the center westward to San Jacinto […]