Downtown Milwaukee's convention center expansion will cost more than its $420 million budgeted price — forcing more public borrowing
Downtown Milwaukee's convention center expansion will cost more than its $420 million budgeted price — forcing more public borrowing to cover that inflation-fueled increase.
That's the word coming from a meeting Thursday of two board committees of the Wisconsin Center District, which operates the convention facility.
The district will need to borrow more money to cover the higher costs, said Ald. Robert Bauman, a board member.
Details aren't yet final, but likely will be by the full board's meeting on Aug. 19, Bauman told the Journal Sentinel.
The board's Governance Committee and Finance Committee met in closed session to discuss the issue.
Wisconsin's Public Meetings Law allows governments to discuss certain items, including negotiations over investments of public funds, in closed session. However, any votes on such matters must happen in open session.
The good news is that the district, a state-created agency supported in part by taxes on hotel rooms, restaurant meals and car rental fees in Milwaukee County, has seen higher than expected revenue so far in 2022.
That's according to a report presented in open session to committee members by Steve Marsh, the district's chief financial officer and senior vice president.
The inflation rate's big increase, and its impact on the price of steel, concrete and other construction materials, is causing the price hike, according to a May report to the board.
The Wisconsin Center expansion, which started a year ago, has seen bids that are 10% to 15% higher than budgeted, Marty Brooks, district chief executive officer and president, said in May.
That's well above the 8.5% contingency that was included in the project's budget that was approved in April 2020.
The project, which will double the Wisconsin Center's size, is scheduled to be done by March 2024.
That's around five months before the center will help host the Republican National Convention.
Tom Daykin can be emailed at tdaykin@jrn.com and followed on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee convention center expansion costs rising, forcing more debt
