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Over the years, Charlotte leaders have helped build a 700-room hotel and schmoozed Washington insiders to convince Republicans and Democrats to stage a national political convention here.
But as the parties prepare to solicit bids for their 2012 conventions, Charlotte officials are asking a different question this year: Is it worth it?
A convention could pour millions of dollars into the local economy and bring a raft of free publicity from media around the globe.
But Mayor Pat McCrory says hosting a convention could cost $60 million.
And experts say the economic benefits and media exposure are often far smaller than city boosters tell the public.
In recent years, cities such as Los Angeles and New York have declined to submit bids or withdrawn them because of the cost of hosting conventions.
N.C. Gov. Bev Perdue sparked debate last month when she said she had lobbied Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine to hold his party's 2012 convention in Charlotte. City Councilwoman Susan Burgess said she has also signed a letter to Kaine urging the party to select Charlotte.
The issue surfaced again last week during a City Council meeting when McCrory told the audience he had spoken with Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper. Denver hosted the Democratic National Convention last summer.
“Before we can seriously consider either convention, we need details about the cost,” McCrory said. “It cost a lot of money. We need to evaluate the return on investment.”
Charlotte said officials anticipate that the Democratic National Committee will start seeking bids in the next two to three months and select the site in 2010. McCrory said the city could also submit a bid for the Republican National Convention.
In the late 1990s, Charlotte was one of eight cities that received a visit from the Republican National Committee's site-selection committee, but it didn't make the final cut. The party eventually chose Philadelphia, which spent $50 million from public and private sources to host the 2000 convention.
One major reason Charlotte wasn't chosen: A lack of hotel rooms.
But now the Charlotte region boasts about 30,000 hotel rooms, up significantly from 17,000 in 1999.
City officials contributed $16 million toward the construction of the 700-room Westin Hotel uptown at the corner of Stonewall and College streets in part because of the losing bid for the convention.
Burgess said she was attending the 2008 Democratic convention in Denver when she thought Charlotte should seriously consider bidding for the 2012 convention. The Denver metro area is only slightly larger than the Charlotte region, she said.
In 1995, Burgess said, Charlotte hosted the National League of Cities conference, which drew about 4,500 visitors. The event generated more than $9 million for the local economy, she said.
She said a political convention would boost hotels, restaurants and other businesses, but added much more extensive study is needed.
The 2004 Democratic convention brought $14.8 million to Boston, far less than the $163 million city officials estimated, said Paul Bachman, director research for the Beacon Hill Institute at Suffolk University in Boston.
Security measures closed miles of highway and interrupted rail service. Residents tried to avoid the crowds near the convention site and some stores and restaurants had to close or reduce hours of operation.
Bachman said caterers and hotels benefited handsomely from the convention, but many other businesses lost money, noting that a popular shipping festival was canceled.
Los Angeles hosted the 2000 Democratic convention, but city leaders declined when the party asked them to submit a bid for the 2008 event, said Jack Kyser, head of the Kyser Foundation for Economic Research in Los Angeles.
The city lost sales tax revenue when security and other concerns forced officials to shutdown a business district near the convention site, Kyser said.
Officials hoped the event would bring great exposure, but “the media came in the day before the event” and most of the pictures were from inside the arena, where the convention took place, Kyser said.
Fred Clasen-Kelly: 704 358-5028
