Location to be considered in conference center feasibility study
The City Council on Monday took no action on the proposed donation of First Christian Church, located at 520 S. Osage Ave., to the City of Bartlesville.
The council was set to consider the agenda item during the meeting, but Vice Mayor Jim Curd, who has been working with FCC representatives to reach an agreement for the donation, told the council there is still work to be done in drafting the Memorandum of Understanding. The MOU serves as an agreement between the City and the FCC.
“We came forward with a Memorandum of Understanding and in the last couple of days have determined there’s still some work to be done on it,” Curd said. “We would like to continue discussions with (FCC and City attorneys) and tidy up some wording in the MOU and make sure that everybody’s concerns are addressed properly. I think we’re very close, so I’m very hopeful we can do that (soon).”
The matter could go back before the council later this month or during the regularly scheduled January (2022) meeting.
If ultimately approved, the City will likely lease the property, which is north of the Bartlesville Community Center and east of the Price Tower and the taxpayer-funded Unity Square Park, with the final transfer of ownership contingent on funding to renovate the facility before July 1, 2023. Discussions have included setting the cost for the lease at $1 per year, with the City assuming operation and maintenance costs as well.
Feasibility study
In a separate agenda item, the council also voted 5-0 to authorize City staff to issue a Request for Proposals for a consultant to complete a conference center feasibility study. City Manager Mike Bailey said the FCC donation brought the matter front and center, but that discussions had been underway regarding a possible convention center for the city for some time.
“The staff of the Bartlesville Community Center and the Bartlesville Convention and Visitors’ Bureau have identified a lack of conference center facilities in the Bartlesville area,” said Bailey. “While we have had several discussions about possible solutions to this, City staff believe we should first identify the existing gap between available conference center facilities and the estimated demand for these facilities. We believe the best way to do that is to hire a consultant to perform a conference center feasibility study.”
The FCC location will still be included as a possible location for the center, if the feasibility study indicates one is warranted, Bailey said.
The consultant will be expected to perform at least the following tasks:
- Analysis of state/regional conference/convention market
- Survey state and regional planners, etc.
- Estimate total market demand for Bartlesville region
- Needs analysis
- Analyze ability of current regional facilities to meet demand
- List limitations of current facilities in capturing unmet demand
- Estimate size of facilities and amenities necessary to capture unmet demand
- Site analysis for potential conference center locations
- Determine preferred region(s) of Bartlesville to locate a conference center
- Identify advantages and limitations of each region
- Identify advantages and limitations of possible FCC site
City staff is in the process of drafting the RFP.