Convention Center Costs May Increase : Need Seen for More Parking

San Diego Convention Center General Manager Tom Liegler has many loose ends to tie up between now and the fall of 1989, when the 760,000-square-foot facility is scheduled to open.

Staff must be hired, traffic routes identified and the center’s all-important food and beverage manager selected, to name just a few of the tasks ahead.

But one task could be more troublesome and potentially controversial than the others. Liegler says he needs to find two or more large land parcels that were not included in the convention’s $125-million capital budget, nor in the center’s operating budget. Liegler and officials at the city and San Diego Unified Port District say they don’t yet know how the parcels are going to be paid for.

The additional costs that may result from the land purchases raise the possibility of a significant cost overrun at the convention center.

The largest land requirement is for a truck marshaling yard of up to 10 acres where big semitrailer trucks hauling equipment to be shown at the convention center can stand by until being cleared to load or unload their cargo at the facility.

Parking Lots

Liegler’s office has also begun to look for one or two parcels of land for parking lots to accommodate up to 1,000 cars. The two-level, 2,000-space parking lot being built beneath the center is expected to be adequate for largely out-of-town convention visitors but not for the up-to-35,000 weekend visitors expected to attend the large consumer shows at the center.

Some convention centers operate without the marshaling yards, Liegler acknowledged, and the 1985 agreement signed by the port district, which is paying the $125 million for the center, and the city, which will operate it, does not require that a marshaling yard be built. The agreement says only that the parties “use their best reasonable efforts” to provide a yard.

Still, Liegler makes it clear that having a yard where the trucks can assemble is a desirable alternative to having 200 or more trucks haphazardly parking in the course of a day along city streets as they wait for clearance to approach the convention center.

“San Diego is wise to try to keep the trucks off the street,” Liegler said. “There are enough traffic-flow problems in the city without trucks taking up curb space for miles.” Furthermore, Liegler said the yard should be no more than five miles from the convention center.

Managed at Anaheim

Liegler says he speaks from experience. The 59-year-old Wisconsin native was general manager of Anaheim Convention Center and Anaheim Stadium for 20 years ending in 1985. Previously, he was operations manager of the Astrodome in Houston and continues to consult cities on issues concerning convention center construction and operations.

Liegler is also executive vice president of San Diego Convention Center Corp., the nonprofit entity that will operate the facility.

Land broker Mike Smith of Coldwell Banker in San Diego warned that finding a suitable parcel for the marshaling yard “is a tough requirement. You’re talking some hefty prices.” He said the parcel, if located nearby, could cost at least $5 million at today’s prices, adding that the convention center may have trouble finding a piece of land that size in the first place.

Depending on location, the land for the parking lots could cost $2 million or more.

Assistant City Manager John Fowler said his office has been helping Liegler in his search by identifying possible sites and is sympathetic to Liegler’s plight. But Fowler advised the center not to look to the city for financial assistance.

Burden on Operator

“The burden falls to the operator and the convention center corporation to resolve this dilemma,” Fowler said.

Port district Executive Director Don Nay said that while Liegler has not formally approached him about obtaining land, the port would not donate more land to the convention center. The port has more than done its part for the convention center by paying for the construction, he indicated.

“We’re not giving any parking spaces to anybody. They have never asked for it,” Nay said.

Nay suggested that an interim site for convention center parking could be the old 14-acre Campbell Industries site immediately south of the convention center site. Although the land is zoned for industrial use, it is commonly pointed to as the logical place for a convention center expansion in the 1990s, center spokeswoman Donna Alm said.

Figuring three passengers to a car, the convention center could generate 10,000 or more car visits during each day of a heavily attended weekend consumer show. To accommodate those cars, the center will have to direct weekend visitors to unused spaces in city office buildings and lots, as well as to the parking lots it controls, Alm said.

The extension of the San Diego trolley line to the convention center will help move the visitors to the shows, she said.

But Liegler cautioned that conventioneers suffer from “modern-day, shopping-center syndrome” of wanting to park close to their destination with a minimum of walking. If it is too difficult or confusing for visitors to reach the center, they may not come back for the next one, he said.