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5thEstate.com is the best |
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5thEstate.com is the best |
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From another source, 5thEstate.com has intercepted an email from PricewaterhouseCoopers. They produced the first report that said the convention center should be built. They changed their mind and have demanded that Hixon remove all references to their study because it's no long valid! In fact, PricewaterhouseCoopers has real doubts that the project will succeed.
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No Convention Center?!
Inside Scoops December 4, 2005
Is the convention center tanking? Our 11th Floor bug says that Dave Hixon, the Executive Director of the convention center authority, is campaigning for a three-year-golden-parachute for himself! Apparently Hixon is so concerned that the convention center is going to tank that he is demanding THREE years of his salary in severance if the project doesn't get built! No word on how well negotiations are going for Hixon. From another source, 5thEstate.com has intercepted an email from PricewaterhouseCoopers. They produced the first report that said the convention center should be built. They changed their mind and have demanded that Hixon remove all references to their study because it's no long valid! In fact, PricewaterhouseCoopers has real doubts that the project will succeed.
Below is a portion of an intercepted email from PricewaterhouseCoopers' Rob Canton:
1. Regardless of any review of our prior studies, the physical characteristics of the development that I understand to be proposed are VERY different from the project I studied. (the equivalent of using a study of a 500 room Marriott to evaluate a 300-room Hampton) 2. In March of this year, I was so concerned that PwC analyses (demand study, economic impact, etc.) of a different building program were being used to "promote" the proposed convention center development, that I wrote a note to Mr. Hixson requesting that all reference to PwC be removed from the LCCCA website.
4. Is it possible that my atempts earlier this year to convince the Authority to let us update our study may have been met by resistance due to our candid comments regarding the challenging state of the industry and the proposed development? I lose alot (and probably gain some) of business because I try to be very clear that we will not be influenced by what the client or community stakeholders "want," but rather will base our findings on what the market supports.
Rob Canton, Director
(Editor's note: phone number edited out) |
3. I don't doubt that alot of money has been spent on this project (particularly legal fees); however, I believe an independent study by PwC is the best way to get to the "right" answer. That answer may very well be consistent with County Commissioners' belief given changes to the industry, changes in the Center/Hotel building program, and changes in the competitive environment (e.g. new Erie, PA convention center coming out of the ground).