Located on the northern end of a desolate and bleak downtown, the new
center featured a box design that included some convention center bare essentials–three
meeting halls, a lobby, loading docks, and kitchen facilities. The
“box with docks,” as it came to be called, was noteworthy for its poor design
and rapid descent into near obsolescence within 5 years of its opening. Almost
immediately the center’s sound system needed replacement and the roof suffered
from damaging leaks. The center’s dock design limited the ability to
hold overlapping events, and its austere façade gave it an uninviting appearance
(Faust, 1997). In less than a year, the city sold additional bonds as part of
a refinancing effort and in response to revenue shortfalls and “no-show” conventions,
cancelled because of an inadequate number of hotel rooms. After the
refinancing, about $6 million became available for repairs and improvements
(Meyer, 1979)