View Full Version : Convention Center



OKCMann
01-03-2007, 01:06 PM
Lawton is one town in desperate need of a convention center. Great Plains Coliseum is a joke IMO. Many other cities Lawton's size have adequate centers to capitalize on tourist and convention business. Why has this ship seemed to have left Lawton behind?

Bobby H
02-14-2007, 07:06 PM
The short-sighted Lawton City Council and Comanche County Commissioners deserve much of the blame on why Lawton has no credible arena or convention center. For decades they have refused to invest in anything, preferring to pander to retired people who want to pay at little in the way of taxes as possible. That's also how Lawton got nailed with a giant $60 million-plus water/sewage rehab project.

Lawton could end up getting a new arena built sometime over the next few years as one of the phases in the downtown redevelopment project. The Kiowa-Comanche tribes have also made a lot of noise about building an arena in the Lawton area, but on tribe-owned land. Both efforts face some serious challenges. For the city of Lawton, they would have to come up with a way to pay for it. Good luck on that anytime soon. The tribes could build an arena. Lord knows they get a lot of money from compulsive gamblers. But inner turmoil within the tribal governments and even a good measure of corruption have a strong risk of derailing an arena project or just preventing the project from getting started at all.

The Comanche County Fairgrounds is going to be making some improvements, but the Great Plains Coliseum just isn't fit for things like music concerts, larger sporting events or conventions that need an extra touch of class. A brand new arena is needed for any of that.

OKCMann
02-15-2007, 03:35 PM
Virtually every city in Texas anywhere near ythe size of Lawton already have arenas with attached convention centers. Wichita Falls, Abilene, San Angelo, Beaumont, Waco, Tyler. Some of these cities have had them for many years. Lawton is as backwards as ever IMO!

Bobby H
02-16-2007, 08:40 AM
Just who is going to pay for such an arena?

Over the past four years the price of building materials like concrete, steel and aluminum has more than tripled. A decent 10,000 seat arena can tip the scales at over $100 million -and that's just for a really basic setup. For something actually nice that cost could more than double.

If all those cities mentioned had to build such an arena today, with current materials prices factored into the budget, none of them would be able to manage it -at least not on the backs of their local taxpayers.

Wichita Falls lucked out when it finished the MPEC Center and Kay Yeager Coliseum before the spike in oil prices and prices of construction materials.

If some private business wants to build an arena in Lawton they can be my guest. Same goes for the Indian tribes. If they want to build an arena in the Lawton area, fine as well.

The city of Lawton has much greater needs in other areas, like improving its infrastructure, than it does in diverting many millions of tax dollars into an arena. Lawton also doesn't get anywhere near enough money from its low hotel-motel tax for it to be any kind of credible funding resource for an arena.

OKCMann
02-16-2007, 09:25 AM
I think the question any city has to ask itself is what will it get from an arena/convention center. Possibly part of the reason Lawton has such a poor hotel-motel tax base is due to the fact there are no convention/visitor business coming to the city? That business will in turn raise sales tax revenue from restaurants and retail etc. You also have to factor in the increase in activities such as events, concerts, sports, etc to the quality of life to a city. Is the investment worth the cost? The citizens of Lawton may well have to make that decision in the future?

Bobby H
02-16-2007, 10:18 AM
Sure, the return on investment is the most important factor to consider on whether or not to build an arena.

Right now several factors would seriously hurt the ability of any new arena in Lawton to be profitable.

First you have the exceedingly high construction costs.

Second, you have the factor of competition. Wichita Falls is only an hour's drive to the south and already has an arena able to hold music concerts and sporting events like minor league hockey. Oklahoma City is a little more than an hour's drive northeast and has a lot more capabilities. If Lawton were to build an arena various performing acts and sporting events would have to get by on the Lawton market alone rather than being able to draw from other areas as OKC and Wichita Falls are doing. There is a serious risk that even if Lawton built a great new arena lots of big events would refuse to book it.

Third, the median income level in Lawton isn't all that great. Some other things need to improve in the city before it can properly support something like an arena. In the long run, after a number of other things happen, a new Lawton arena might be do-able. But I just don't think it's a very practical idea right now -certainly not if the taxpayers will have to foot the bill for its construction.

OKCMann
07-11-2007, 04:19 PM
I will be curious to see how the CBA does in Lawton's existing "areans." I will be interested to see if this will direct some to call for a new arena? After alll even if the new team goes over well I can hardly believe an arena of 2500 is adequate to make enough money. Just speculation on my part?

Bobby H
07-12-2007, 12:41 AM
There's too many other things higher on the list of priorities for Lawton. I don't see Lawton building any new arena anytime soon. I especially do not see a taxpayer funded arena appearing in Lawton for a long time.

People in Lawton are more interested in driving up to Oklahoma City to see a NBA game than see a minor league basketball game take place in Lawton. Personally, I would be excited about an arena able to host good quality rock concerts. Unfortunately, Lawton is not a major market able to attract top name acts. So that puts the city into really tough competition with countless gaming casinos with performance halls of their own.

The MPEC center and Kay Yeager Coliseum in Wichita Falls is in financial trouble in part because of the competition for performing acts coming from all the casinos. The tribes are able to pay performers quite a bit better. The tribes don't even care if they lose money on the deal. It works like a "loss leader" to get people in the casinos. There's more than a few concert-goers who will blow a house payment at a blackjack table or in a slot machine.