Dear Editor:
The News Tribune on March 19 identified the last two proposals for the JC conference center that City Council plans to vote on April 7.
Neither plan matches the original RFP.
Farmers' plan at the Mall did not have any breakout space. They plan to split up the large 40,000-square-foot room into breakout areas. Ehrhardt's plan (by the Truman Building in the flood plain) has a 30,000-square-feet room with another 2,000 square feet put aside for breakout sessions.
To be competitive with other cities that have existing conference centers the Jefferson City conference center, at a minimum, needs to have a dedicated exhibition area and general session area (one of the two areas can be designed to also serve meals to support a conference) and breakout areas.
As an individual involved in conference planning for the past 12 years in the state of Missouri (500-600 attendees with 50-75 exhibitors), I urge the City Council not to vote in favor of either proposal. They do not serve the economic interests of the city.