Should Austin Ditch the New Convention Center project?
Click here or on the image above to watch a brief documentary about the new convention center project.
When the Travis GOP and the founder of Save Our Springs Alliance can agree on something, you know that’s some good momentum!
During their May meeting, the precinct chairs of the Travis County Republican Party were excited to hear a report from Bill Bunch and other supporters with Austin United PAC of a petition to stop the new downtown Austin Convention Center from being constructed. While not an official Travis GOP stance at this time, there was no opposition to the presentation, and we urge our friends and supporters to review the FACTS and make up their minds.
The citizen-initiated petition would set culture, arts, and parks funding as the top city priority for our hotel tourism (HOT) tax dollars rather than wasting $3-4 billion on an unneeded convention center.
Organizers need at least 20,000 registered Austin voters to sign the petition by the end of June in order for the measure to be placed on the November 2025 ballot.
The City of Austin opened the current Neal Kocurek Austin Convention Center as recently as 2002, with debt still being paid. It was expanded and remodeled in 2010. But city leaders closed it on April 1 (no irony there!) of this year in order to begin renovations, causing Austin to lose numerous major events. Even SXSW is considering leaving town.
The new convention center project would lock up and capture more than 77% of all city hotel tax funds for 30 years of debt financing (till around 2055) if it goes forward. For a little perspective, the City of Austin collected $170 million in hotel taxes in 2024.
And this is all being done without a vote of Austinites. (A 2019 referendum on a similar project failed 54-46% -- this project is not related to that effort at all.)
Stopping the convention center now would put the brakes on $3-4 billion (with a B) in new debt and allow the city to redirect $100 million to other ventures. Limited demolition is already taking place on the existing convention center.
Petitions may be signed and signed petition pages may be dropped off at Chinatown cafe, Far West and Mopac.
