Frequently Asked Questions Behind-the-scenes tour of the current facility (video) Funding Mechanisms Completed Speaking Engagements Campaign Facts The cost of doing nothing What others are saying FAQ Q: Why can’t we use this money for something else? A: If you were going to buy a house for $100,000 and someone said, ‘Why don’t you use the money for something else?’ you’d have to explain your answer in the same way we have to explain this. The Coalition doesn’t have the money. The plan is to borrow the money – using the city’s bonding capacity – and pay it back over time with tax dollars that come from our visitors. That’s what makes this such a win-win for our city, for the people who live here. The Coalition will build a facility that will produce jobs and tax revenues for our community, and we will not have to pay for it with an increase in our own taxes. Q: What happens to the existing convention center and Renaissance Hotel if we build a new one? A: A number of things could happen with the existing Nashville Convention Center when the new facility is built. There will continue to be a market for smaller conventions that our existing center could host. There is also interest from private organizations in purchasing the space for various uses, such as additional hotel space or running the facility as a private convention hall. Regardless of what happens, it will continue to generate revenue. The Renaissance Hotel has a contract which ensures that a convention facility will be nearby as long as the hotel operates. But the hotel is very supportive of a new convention center, and is working with the Coalition on options for continued use of the existing Nashville Convention Center. Q: Convention centers must be attached to an anchor hotel and have adequate parking to be successful. Will that add to the estimated cost, and who will pay for it? A: Our projected cost of $455 million for the new convention center does not include a hotel or parking because we are confident that those pieces of the project will be privately funded. There are actually a few private developers who have already expressed interest in funding, building and operating an anchor hotel, and as this project continues to move forward, there will be even stronger interest from a larger group. Q: We’re losing money on the Sommet Center and Coliseum…why do we need another big building downtown? A: Comparing the Music City Center project to either the Sommet Center or the Coliseum is not comparing apples to apples. Those two sports and entertainment venues were built using some commitment of local residents’ taxes and/or fees. We want to avoid that scenario. A better venue for comparison would be the existing downtown Nashville Convention Center, which has operated for 20 years without a drain on local revenues. That center was built and operates on hotel-motel taxes and other revenues generated by visitors. Its capital expenditures, debt and operating expenses are all paid for with outside sources of revenue. We want to structure the Music City Center in the same way, and we think it can be even more of an economic engine for our city than our current facility was at its peak. Q: How can you guarantee that local taxpayers won’t end up having to foot the bill for this convention center? A: Everyone involved in this effort – including the mayor – is committed to ensuring that local taxpayers will not have to pay for a new convention center. The goal all along has been to keep the burden off Nashville residents and to make sure we can pay for this project with revenue from visitors. That’s the only way to make this project a reality and to set it up for long-term success. We have a proven track record with the existing center, and we are confident the new convention center will be even more successful. Q: I agree that a new convention center is a good idea, but I’ve seen some other site recommendations that make sense. Shouldn’t you be looking at those, too? A: We applaud the Civic Design Center and others who are getting engaged in the discussion. The more dialogue we can have on exactly where the new convention center will be built, the better. But the volunteers on the Music City Center Committee spent more than a year looking at potential sites and recommended the SoBro location for a number of very compelling reasons. The Coalition is now promoting that site because it offers the best opportunity for success and maximizes our return-on-investment potential.