Study gives recommendations for Albany conference center

ALBANY – The results are in from a study on the feasibility of an Albany conference center geared toward bringing more events and visitors to southwest Georgia, with a consultant envisioning a 100,000-square-foot structure with a price tag of $70 million to $100 million.

The study by Chicago-based firm Johnson Consulting recommends a facility that includes at least 50,000 square feet and up to 75,000 square feet of contiguous event space, with another 15,000 square feet for meeting rooms and 10,000 square feet of prefunction space.

“We have completed Step 1: Do we need the facility? Yes,” Victor Landry, vice chairman of Visit Albany and the Flint River Entertainment Complex general manager, said. “We’re approaching Step 2: How do we pay for it?”

The Albany Civic Center, one of the properties managed by Landry, has a conference room, and the arena has in the past been used for conferences. But that facility lacks the modern features that make a conference facility attractive, Landry said.

“There’s just newer technology out there that keeps us from being competitive,” he said.

The Albany Civic Center opened in 1983, with a price tag of about $18 million. 

The study included input from the city and county governments, residents, Albany State University, Albany Technical College, hoteliers, business and real estate professionals, other organizations and other potential users.  It concluded that the civic center is functionally obsolete for modern meetings.

While the civic center serves as a venue for concerts and graduations, it cannot support conferences or high-quality banquets without renovation or supplemental facilities. The study identified the area within a 90-minute drive of Albany as being a potential host city for meetings and said that a multipurpose event center can serve as an anchor for ongoing downtown redevelopment.

One shortcoming is a lack of hotel rooms that would be within walking distance.

“To host conventions, the (need is) for 300 to 500 hotel rooms within a walking distance,” Landry said.

Northwest Albany has a significant number of hotel rooms with more planned for construction, .

For County Commissioner Clinton Johnson, the east side of the Flint River would be the best location for an event center. Looking to the west across the river, attendees at the conference center would see the developing Albany downtown area, he said.

“I think an east-bank development would be my primary concern,” Johnson said.

During a Tuesday Albany City Commission meeting, City Manager Terrell Jacobs said that there are options for financing the construction. Those include a revenue bond issue to pay for the conference center.

“This conference center is much-needed,” County Commissioner Anthony Jones said. “I think downtown is the place to go where we see all this other economic development.”