Larger economic effects of new convention center touted

Federal and city officials broke ground at lunchtime today on the city's new $75.6-million Convention Complex.

U.S. Rep. Dave Loebsack, D-Iowa City, Acting U.S. Commerce Secretary Rebecca Blank, Mayor Ron Corbett and others said the new Convention Complex - which features a new convention center and renovated U.S. Cellular Center arena next to it - will revitalize the entire city and its regional economy and help attract businesses and create jobs.

Loebsack said the investment in and construction of the new Convention Complex is coming to a city that has endured a “double whammy,” the 2008 flood followed by the national economic recession.

Tuesday's groundbreaking took place under a tent on the Convention Complex site with rain threatening and the lunchtime traffic near at hand on First Avenue East and Interstate 380.

In this instance, Loebsack said he didn't mind competing with the noise of the traffic.

“The more traffic there is downtown, the more traffic there is on (Interstate) 380, the more activity in this part of the city, the better it is not only for this part of the city, but for the city and for the whole region,” the congressman said. “And that's why this particular project, I think, is so important. … It is about recovery. It's about economic recovery.”

John Fernandez, assistant secretary of commerce for economic development, recalled being in Cedar Rapids in 2010 to announce the federal Economic Development Administration's $35-million award to the Convention Complex project, an award that is the largest single award the EDA has made to any one project in history, he emphasized again Tuesday.

“Back in Washington, we're having this interesting debate about the role of government,” Fernandez told the gathering at the Convention Complex site. “And I can tell you, right now, I feel like we're doing the right thing, and this is a good role for government.”

Corbett noted that Washington, D.C., had just commemorated a new memorial for Dr. Martin Luther King. However, the mayor said the city of Cedar Rapids wasn't working on memorials, but on the more fundamental task of rebuilding the city after the 2008 flood.

Some of the rebuilding, like a new central fire station, will provide a basic city service to the citizens of Cedar Rapids, he said. The Convention Complex, he added, will benefit Cedar Rapidians, but also will have a regional economic reach well beyond the city.

“It's that economic effect, that ripple effect. It's what we call commerce,” the mayor said.