Convention center still touted as success, but operators cautious

As it turns 2, Schaumburg's convention center is still touted as a success as both a business and a stimulus to the economy.

But while business remains strong, officials are warily watching the economic slowdown, and questions remain about when, if ever, a proposed 2,400-seat performing arts theater will be added.

Bookings at the Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center and adjoining hotel were unexpectedly high even before they opened, prompting operators to set even loftier goals.

Arguably, those projections were too optimistic. As General Manager Tom Robertson acknowledges, this year will likely be the first in which booking goals aren't met.

Still, he said, overall revenue is already five years ahead of original feasibility projections, two years ahead for the convention center alone.

"We're going to exceed last year by a wide margin," Robertson said. "(The year) 2006 was a record year for the industry and 2007 beat that. To be that good in a down market is concerning to a degree. Where is the bottom of that?"

Cautious optimism

The convention business is clearly affected by drains on the overall travel industry like high gas prices and the airlines' woes, said Doug Ducate, president of Dallas-based Center for Exhibition Industry Research.

For many, the hassle of travel is a greater factor than the cost, he said. But he added this could actually help major hub cities like Chicago, as convention planners may seek to avoid the trouble of getting conventioneers to and from second- and third-tier cities.

"As far as the (convention) industry is concerned," Ducate said, "we've been cautiously optimistic since we turned the corner in '04."

Ducate attended an industry conference at the Renaissance just last month and got to see its operation firsthand.

"It's certainly a well-designed facility that's working very well," he said. "The place sparkled. It's really being well taken care of. It was every bit as good as it was the year before."

Convention centers tend to lose repeat business when they cut back on maintenance in tough times, he said.

Schaumburg officials themselves say they're pleased with the facility's performance and effect on nearby businesses.

Village Manager Ken Fritz said the village's main interest in the center has always been its potential to boost other area businesses - provided it's at least doing well enough to pay its own bills.

But it's the task of the center's staff to go beyond that and actually it profitable in its own right, Fritz said.

Renaissance's arrangement - it's owned by the village but run like a private enterprise - is very common in the convention industry, Ducate said.

Building businesses

Mayor Al Larson said the number of new businesses that have sprung up in the past two years is evidence of the convention center's success.

These include the Prime Center development at Algonquin and Meacham roads and restaurants like John Barleycorn, Davis Street Fishmarket and Pete Miller's.

"What the convention center does is give Schaumburg some real validity as a community," Larson said. "We've seen a lot of peripheral development around it."

The full impact, though, could take years to realize.

Other factors, like the fate of a new Jane Addams Memorial Tollway exit at Meacham Road and the possible construction of the STAR commuter rail line, could also affected the center's, and the area's, fortunes for years to come.

"We think the area will benefit for a long period of time," Fritz said.

Theatrical drama

Apart from the imminent addition of an electronic sign along the tollway, one major decision still looming is when, or if, to build the theater originally proposed for the convention center campus.

The hope was that a performing arts venue would boost the fortunes of the hotel and convention center, and vice versa. But amid concerns about the economy, the theater didn't get approval with the rest of the project in 2004.

Enthusiasm for the project is still strong, but so is the uncertainty over its timing.

Larson said its fate will be tied to what happens with the economy and gas prices.

Village Trustee Tom Dailly believes it is the right time to say yes to the theater, and the reluctance of many people to travel far could actually be a benefit.

"I wish the performing arts theater was there, or at least under construction," he said. "From my perspective, I think now is the time to do it. The opportunity is ripe. What else have you got in the suburbs?"

Village officials discuss these questions regularly and even now are reexamining the theater's feasibility.

Fritz said the village must remain confident of the theater's marketability for the day when the finances are there to build to it.

"This is exactly what we did with the convention center for several years before we pulled the trigger," he said.

The convention industry is likely to experience ups and downs, Ducate said, and there are always technological advancements making it easier for people to communicate without being in the same place.

But he said he doesn't see any imminent end to the practice of bringing people together to exchange their professional knowledge and experience face-to-face.

Ducate said the Schaumburg convention center is in good shape to play a part in that for a long time to come.

"Whatever its projected time frame was - 20 years or 30 years - it probably has a very bright future," he said.