Enough is Enough

We recommend a no vote on Prop 1

May 01

Editorial / The Dallas Morning News

Before casting your vote on Dallas Proposition 1, the convention center hotel question, it is important to think beyond the city we inhabit today.

Imagine a Dallas of the not-too-distant future, with a bustling new Arts District full of museums, a world-class opera house, symphony hall and theater. Not far away will be a 5.2-acre park covering the Woodall Rodgers Freeway. Imagine a magnificent Trinity Park with lakes and trails, easily accessed from downtown. And don’t forget the restaurants and shops in the West End.

In other words, downtown Dallas will be radically more user-friendly and attractive than it is now. That means more reasons than ever for convention planners to choose us over competing cities.

But a large hole mars that vision of Dallas: the lack of a convention center hotel.

If Proposition 1 passes Saturday, banning the city from financing the hotel, Dallas will be positioning itself to remain perpetually a second-class convention venue. Because of lack of adequate hotel space within easy walking distance of the convention center, we will drive business and visitors away. That’s why Proposition 1 deserves your “no” vote.

For residents who don’t keep track of downtown’s steady transformation, it might be easy to be swayed by the arguments of the anti-hotel crowd. They’ll tell you downtown has enough hotels, and we don’t need a 1,000-room hotel next to the convention center. “Let ‘em take a bus” – like they do now, the anti-hotel crowd says.

Chief among those naysayers is billionaire Harlan Crow, owner of the Hilton Anatole on the outskirts of downtown. He has a big stake in maintaining the status quo – buses and all – because he stands to lose customers. That’s why he’s putting so much of his own money into the anti-hotel campaign and why voters should be skeptical of his motives.

Opponents of a city-owned hotel say this effort should be guided by private enterprise to reduce the risk for taxpayers. Fair point, but no private developer has stepped forward. And the city’s formula ensures that hotel users will foot the construction bill, posing even less risk to taxpayers than a direct-subsidy hotel finance plan.

It’s important to note that other major downtown hotel owners – from the Adolphus to the Hyatt Regency – oppose Proposition 1. Everybody benefits, they argue, no small consideration for landowners around the planned site – including A.H. Belo, owners of this newspaper.

Supporters in the business community know that Dallas needs a convention center hotel, and it won’t get built unless the city finances it. They know that “let ‘em take a bus” is the last thing convention planners want to hear.

Planners’ primary concerns are cost and convenience. Bus rentals add significantly to the expenses and hassles of a convention. Confronted with the bus option, lots of planners are bypassing Dallas and choosing more convenient, walkable venues. That decision costs Dallas an estimated $2.6 billion a year in lost revenues, the city says.

Convention business matters to every taxpayer because it provides the first introduction many visitors will have to our city. It puts thousands of people into shops and restaurants, boosting commerce and creating jobs. When those visitors go home, their positive feedback creates a buzz. Impressed executives take a closer look and realize that this could be a viable new home for their companies.

Chances are, the voters who decide the hotel’s fate will never actually stay in it or view downtown from a tourist’s perspective. It’s important they remember: This isn’t just a vote about a city-financed hotel. It’s about the welcome message we send visitors.

Proposition 1 is a bus ride to nowhere. Vote no.