TOLEDO, Ohio — An Illinois-based consulting hired by Lucas County Economic Development Corporation will review the performance of the Glass City Center and the hotel connected to it for potential improvements.
It's been over a year since the convention center's $70 million renovation was completed and the Hilton Hotel that's connected to it opened.
Now the county wants insight from HVS Convention, Sports & Entertainment Facilities Consulting on how things can improve, if they need to at all.
"The build-up is incredible," said Dave Crumbley, a regular visitor to downtown Toledo. "You walk around, and you see life. I'm not the only person walking around, you see other human beings."
Crumbley, a local stand-up comic, said he visits downtown several times a week.
"The comic cons, we got the boxing, we got all kinds of stuff," Crumbley said. "Everything is kind of popping off downtown. It's great to see it."
Pete Gerken, president of the Lucas County Commissioners, also gave an optimistic outlook on downtown but said getting a second opinion is always a good idea.
He added that when people visit downtown, they say there's a lot to do.
"You have the Mud Hens, you have the Walleyes, you have bars and restaurants," Gerken said. "It's easy to kind of get lost thinking we have everything just right. We might, but let's find out if there's one or two things that we can do better to get even more people to come here."
That's why the Economic Development Commission voted to pay the consulting firm $75,000 to conduct the review. Gerken said a year into the new renovations, this is a proactive move.
The firm will compare the Glass City Center and the connected hotels to other markets, looking at factors like room rates and how many people are actually visiting.
"If the convention center has activities, the hotel should be full," Gerken said. "We think they are connected and that's a great way to do it. Are there other events that we should be getting that we don't know about? Can we structure the hotel rates differently to make it more attractive? Again, we think we're doing OK, but how can we do better?"
The report is expected to be completed in about three months.
Gerken said if the report's findings aren't good, city leaders will make the suggested adjustments to improve.