Repairs Begin on Convention Center Pavilion
Source: The San
Diego Union Tribune
Contact Reporter, 12/20/16
Heavy equipment has moved into the
Sails Pavilion of the San Diego Convention Center, not for a trade show but to
begin a $16 million replacement of the floor, roof and other repairs.
The project, due for completion in 2018, is part of $25.5 million in upgrades
funded from a loan by the California Infrastructure and Economic Development
Bank. Another $3.6 million in improvements is being covered by center
operations and the city budget.
Convention officials showed off banks
of LED lighting in the exhibit halls Tuesday, the first item on the to-do
list to be completed and one of those funded locally.
“This is largest series of upgrades
in convention center history,” said Laurie Coskey, chair of the San Diego
Convention Center Corp. board.
Also planned are restroom upgrades,
replacement of the ceiling and cooling towers in the west building, escalator
and elevator modernization and fire safety retrofits.
Clifford “Rip” Rippetoe, the center’s
president and CEO, said the improvements will help keep the facility
competitive and environmentally sustainable.
But he said despite these
improvements, some large conventions have decided to meet elsewhere, and others
are considering a move because they need more space and expansion is on hold
for legal and financial reasons.
Among conventions thinking of leaving
is San Diego Comic-Con International, whose contract expires after the 2018
event. Rippetoe said negotiations are under way to extend the popular
convention another three years.
However, he said he was not
pessimistic about eventually seeking a tax increase, if that becomes necessary
to finance an expansion. Voters rejected a tax increase to pay for a new
Chargers stadium and convention center annex in November.
Previous plans called for a $520
million expansion but courts overturned the funding plan and lawsuits still
remain that challenge a contiguous expansion on the waterfront.
Gil Cabrera, chairman of the board’s
budget committee, said the old plans would have to be radically changed because
a $270 million, 831-room hotel, known as Fifth Avenue Landing, has been
approved on part of the expansion site west of the convention center.
One possibility, he said, is to share
meeting space with the hotel. Expanding the exhibit halls would be more
difficult because loading docks would have to be relocated and there is limited
space to do that.
The convention center opened in 1989
and the rooftop meeting area was enclosed a few years later by a fabric
structure when convention planners said they could not count on San Diego
weather to be rain-free. The facility was last expanded in 2001.
Officials said the roof fabric has
lasted longer than its original 20-year useful life, but they hope its
replacement will last up to 40 years due to technical improvements.
Meanwhile, the concrete floor has
been deteriorating and officials showed off the construction site, where T.B.
Penick construction crews are digging up 4 inches of concrete and 3 inches of
foam before replacement. The $3.6 million replacement is expected to be
finished in March. The pavilion will close in August for a six-month
replacement of the fabric roof.
The IBank loan previously was
described as carrying an interest rate of 3.59 percent and an annual payment up
to $1.6 million over its 25-year life.
Previously, the agency loaned $21.5
million to three other projects in the county: $1.8 million to an Oceanside
community center in 2001; $3.5 million to Del Mar for
a sewage collection and treatment plant; and another $16.2 million to Del Mar
for a new city hall.
The convention center project is the
largest approved so far under its revolving fund program and slightly
exceeded the standard $25 million maximum.
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