CITY BEAT 6-1-2002

Meetings & Conventions: Newsline CITY BEATFORT WORTH, TEXAS
.........................
EXPANSION OPENS
The first phase of the $75 million expansion and renovation of the Fort Worth Convention Center opened April 21. The facility expanded south with 68,500 square feet of meeting/ exhibit space and added a 30,000-square-foot ballroom. Phase 2, set to open next spring, will extend usable space west by 47,800 square feet and wrap up renovations. Another Fort Worth addition: The National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame debuted this month to honor the women of the American frontier.

Cincinnati
.........................
ROOM TAX HIKE?
Officials are banking on a bed tax hike to help fund a decade-long pursuit to expand the Albert B. Sabin Cincinnati Convention Center. If passed by the state legislature, taxes would go from 3 to 7.5 percent in Cincinnati’s Hamilton County, for a total room tax of 16.5 percent. Annual revenue is an anticipated $7.8 million. However, some officials fear tourists will head to northern counties because of the tax hike.