Commentary: Could Purcell's wet blanket be a bomb?

Mayor has delivered a blow to supporters of the convention center that is sure to rile them

Email | Print By Richard Lawson

Supporters of building a new downtown convention center must be morosely humming The Gap Band's "You Dropped A Bomb on Me" today after what Mayor Bill Purcell said Tuesday about the civic need, or lack thereof, for a $455-million replacement center.

Purcell told a luncheon at the Nashville Exchange Club he's not sure Nashville is all that desperate for a new convention center. "We don’t have to be a place that goes after some loss leader or chases some illusory thing with our money," Nashville Public Radio recorded him saying. "We need to make practical, sensible investments that we have a confidence will be OK for the near term and the long term.”

The mayor is still carrying around that wet blanket he tossed last winter onto the presentation of the study he had sought on the city's convention center needs. Until yesterday, Purcell had been pretty cool to the idea but hadn't expressed his thoughts publicly on whether a new center was needed. Now he has questioned the need. Never mind that countless studies, including the one he asked to be done, have said there is demand for one. This attitude is sure to stir members of the Music City Center Coalition, which was formed this year to sell the idea of building a new center.

Purcell now may be trying to mend fences after making the comments, trying to cast his words in a larger context of the kinds of investments cities in general should or shouldn't make. But the horse is out of the barn and may not be easily coaxed back inside. Convention center proponents, who never want to offend the mayor publicly, will try putting a happy face on things while they privately seethe and plot their next move.

Still, let's parse the mayor's comment on "our money." Supporters have been working feverishly to make sure it's "their money" that pays for it, not our money, meaning that those who use the center or even visit Nashville pay for it. They got some sales-tax streams through the State Legislature this year to help pay for construction, all based on new development and business. And there is still more to do at the legislature.

Purcell has pushed for making sure Metro taxpayers don't pay for any portion of large projects, unless, of course, it's the new Schermerhorn Symphony Center. Not only did it get a prime piece of downtown real estate, but it also got $5 million last year for construction costs and another $15 million has been proposed from city coffers. The Nashville Sounds probably would have like a deal like that for a new ballpark to provide some downtown family entertainment for Everyman.

For whatever reason -- groundwork for a future political campaign, perhaps? -- the mayor continues to kowtow to those who are still ticked off about the city's contribution to building the football stadium. Apparently, that political purpose doesn't carry over to improving Nashville cultural offerings with taxpayer dollars.

Purcell noted that hotel/motel tax collections have been at all-time highs. Indeed, the collections have been great as hotel occupancy has climbed over the past couple of years as have the room rates.

Convention and visitors officials, however, have warned that the good times with the hotel/motel taxes will begin to ebb in the middle of next year. The contracts that fueled the nice tax take were sold several years ago. Holes are beginning to emerge in the convention business as contracts burn off and prospects choose to go elsewhere for bigger, better space.

One way of looking at that warning is that advocates are using a scare tactic to make the case for a convention. But what if they are correct? Who would be to blame? If it's Purcell, he won't be around to suffer the consequences once he's out of office.

Purcell's stance on the convention center draws to a larger question – what defines political leadership, particularly on large potential development projects? Some would argue he has shown little, whereas his supporters say he has shown a tremendous amount, especially as it relates to public funds.

The mayor hasn't been visible on the recently proposed Westin hotel downtown or the proposed Bass, Berry & Sims-anchored building downtown, letting his planning director Rick Bernhardt seemingly hold the reins on those. He, however, has pushed for the residential development downtown, even apparently weighing in on the design of the potential 65-story Signature Tower.

So the answer to the question perhaps is a moving target.