One of the biggest wants in Daviess County is some type of convention center. The purchase or construction of that type of facility has been at the top of the Daviess County Visitors Bureau wish list for more than a decade.
Amber Warden, executive director for the Daviess County Visitors Bureau, says the agency is in the process now of trying to determine the support for such a project.
“The project is currently undergoing a feasibility study by Hunden Partners and HWC Engineering,” she said. “The survey is currently open (until November) and we hope to learn what type of space it should be.”
Warden says the agency is considering a number of options for the convention center.
“It could be a convention, event, training, culture, sports, facility,” she said. “We also want to figure out what community we would put it in.”
The bureau is funded by an inn keepers tax. That tax was increased by the legislature a couple of years ago. Part of that increase goes to a dedicated fund for the development of a convention center. “We do set aside 1.5% from the innkeepers’ tax each month to act as our initial project fund and currently have around $400K in reserve,” said Warden. “It is important to note that these funds can only go towards certain tourism related efforts and that the reserved funds are set aside as outline in the Innkeepers Tax Ordinance as adopted by the county.”
Warden says officials hope the survey generates a large number of responses and will help direct plans for the actual project in the future.
“If we get enough survey responses, I believe it will have a significant impact on the outcome of this project, said Warden. “We want to create a space that can be utilized for tourism but also one our locals will enjoy and use as well. The survey is open and currently has about 77 respondents.
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