Convention Center Development
Convention Center Marketing
In 1989, the City of Saint Charles made a decision to pursue the development of a convention center. The Greater Saint Charles Convention and Visitors Bureau, headed by Destination Services’ CEO Steve Powell, was given the assignment to lead the effort to make this goal a reality. The project required immense coordination of public and political support, private investment, planning, marketing, branding, the implementation of legislation at the local and State levels. In April of 2005, the City of Saint Charles and the St. Charles County Convention and Sports Facilities Authority, dedicated a new 152,000 sq. ft. convention center with an attached 296 room John Q. Hammons Embassy Suites hotel. The convention center has exceed all projected financial expectations. The development of the convention center involved the following activities:
- Secure local and state legislation to fund the convention center construction
- Gain a public vote for the project
- Maintain public and political support for the project. There were, over the course of time, 3 governors, 8 city administrators, 3 mayors and 5 city councils involved in this project.
- Secure a convention center hotel attached to the convention center
- Hire a convention center management company
- Intimate participation in the design of the center
- Oversight of construction in cooperation with the Authority, the City and the construction firm.
- Branding, marketing, grand opening and strategic planning for the long term success of the convention center.