The Dayton Convention Center will operate under new leadership by early next year. The center’s new governing body is called the Montgomery County Convention Facilities Authority or CFA and includes representatives from the city and county who will oversee the financing needed to renovate the outdated facility.
Montgomery County Administrator Michael Colbert says the new authority was decided after a series of public meetings to discuss the future of the Dayton Convention Center.
“Overwhelmingly, both the businesses and the hoteliers, they saw value in the convention center," Colbert says. "We did not have a space of that capacity in the community and they wanted to reinvest in the facility. Additionally, they want professional management.”
The new Convention Facilities Authority’s 11-member board could impose a maximum three-percent tax levy to help fund upgrades to the convention center. He says it’s also possible the newly formed board could decide to bring in a third party business to operate the facility.
The city of Dayton has owned and operated the convention center since it was built in 1973. It will now be owned by the Convention Facilities Authority.
The city will retain the land rights.
