Rendering from the City of Owensboro
The Owensboro Convention and Visitors Commission will be the lead agency overseeing the collection of the hotel tax, which will fund major tourism projects in the city, including indoor sports facilities.
Committee Chairman Tim Ross said the committee does not plan to meet frequently.
“It doesn’t have to be a month-to-month management thing, it’s an annual update to see progress: are revenues still increasing, are bond payments being covered or not covered, how is the facility progressing and ready to open, things like that,” Ross said.
The committee was established following a ruling that the hotel room tax (TRT) be used to cover the construction costs of an indoor sports facility in 2022.
The committee is made up of representatives from hotels, businesses and city officials, including Andrea Behnke of Holiday Inn, Brandon Dukes of Red Swing Coffee, Whitney McFarland of the City of Owensboro, Ashtyn Redmon of TownePlace Suites, Tim Roth of the City of Owensboro and Steve Johnson of the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame and Museum.
Ross said the city doesn’t intend for the commission to replicate the efforts of the Davis County Convention and Visitors Bureau, which calls itself Visit Owensboro. The commission’s bylaws state that the TRT tax collected will be handled strictly by the commission, and Visit Owensboro will focus on marketing and promoting Owensboro-Daviss County.
“There has to be some source of funding under the contract. [to oversee the funds]”But Owensboro Convention and Visitors Bureau will continue to provide us with all the marketing and advertising services that we need to continue to basically promote the city, so this board is not going to be hiring people or trying to take those responsibilities away from them,” Ross said.
The Commission’s current agreement is to allocate 3% of the TRT collected specifically to the design development, construction, maintenance and equipment related to indoor sports facilities.
The design phase of the $18 million sports facility was completed in February. Bids close on June 25th. Project architects are working to complete the final details of construction documents for the mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems. Documentation for the interior courts, entry areas, ticket sales, concession stands, storage and official areas are all complete. If everything is completed on schedule, they expect to be finished by June 2026.
