Buffalo Rising Online

Jan 1st 2008, 3:11pm By Reed Rankin

In all of the recent discussions about the physical and aesthetic shortcomings of the existing convention center, one key player’s voice has been conspicuously absent, that of Paul Murphy, Executive Director of the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center. It seems odd and altogether too common that people unconnected to the Center or the convention and meeting industry freely offer opinions on the appearance, functionality and value of the convention center without a full understanding of its role in the community, and without asking the opinion of the man closest to its daily operation.

Last month Buffalo Rising introduced Tim Tielman’s proposal to update the convention center by adding, among other things, an admittedly attractive window treatment to the existing building. As a professional in the event production industry, I immediately had an opinion, but I also wondered what Paul Murphy thought, so I asked him to speak to me about it.*

The consensus seems to be that the building is painfully ugly, clad in those inexplicably popular-in-the-seventies precast concrete slabs, textured with rough vertical grooves that from a distance look like precast concrete slabs textured with rough vertical grooves. I don’t know who the architect was; I didn’t ask, and frankly I’d just as soon spare him or her any further vilification. Does the outward appearance of a convention facility really affect its ability to attract business, or is that more attributable to the city’s marketing acumen or Q factor? And does the building’s skin have anything to do with its functionality?

“The Convention Center hosts about 225 events each year,” Murphy said, “with a total annual attendance of about 320,000 people. That generates about 25,000 hotel room nights each year.” The economic impact on the community is calculated with a formula that estimates attendees’ expenditures for hotels, food, entertainment, transportation and incidental services; it’s about $30,000,000 annually. How much of that is genuine influx of capital, and how much is local money being redistributed? It’s hard to say. A significant statistic is that more than 40% of the Convention Center’s business is from local and regional organizations: business meetings, fundraisers, conferences, proms, receptions and trade shows.

“The difference between a good year and a bad year for us is the convention business,” said Murphy. “Every year we can count on the bigger shows (like the NFADA Auto Show and the Buffalo Home Show), and then the local business is improving. We get more reservations because some of the renovations we did have made us more competitive.”

“One of the reasons we’ve been able to attract more banquet business, large dinners of 1,000 or more, is our improved kitchen and food service under Chef Ray,” Murphy said. Chef Ray Thom came to Buffalo six years ago and has elevated the food service of the Convention Center to the equal of any hotel in the area. “He’s extremely talented and flexible,” Murphy said. “He can serve hot dogs for 500, or switch gears and prepare filet mignon for 1,000.”

Who cares about the food service capability? People planning large scale banquets. Remember that the Convention Center has the largest meeting or banquet space in the city, bigger than any local hotel. Some area hotels can host banquets of 1000 – 1200 people, but no more if the event calls for a stage, lighting and sound systems, and rear projection screens, which require depth behind the stage. For dinners that require seating for more than 1,200 people and this type of audio/visual production, the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center is the only game in town.

Murphy admits that the building’s exterior design leaves something to be desired. “In 2002, Erie County put together a Progress Initiation Report, with our input,” he said. “It’s sort of a master plan- with no timetable or price list- of things that need improvement to make us more competitive. One of the areas addressed was a glass porte-cochere over the main entrance on Franklin Street that would allow vehicles to drop off people, protected from the weather. Or course, that hasn’t happened yet, with the challenges to the Erie County budget.”

The idea that the building would benefit from the addition of windows is too simple. Modern convention centers feature lots of glass enclosing the public lobbies and corridors that surround the exhibit and meeting spaces, bringing in natural light and giving the attendees a visual connection to their surroundings. However, the meeting areas and exhibit halls themselves are generally windowless to allow for controlled lighting.

One of Tielman’s renderings shows a view of City Hall from within the main exhibit space. Adding glass in this way would make it necessary to add curtains, shades, or another method of controlling natural light, any of which would be expensive given the expanse of glass to cover and would defeat the purpose of the glass in the first place. As it is, there is a row of windows around the upper perimeter of the exhibit hall, and these are blacked out with opaque screens to control the natural light.

One way to add glass to the exterior of the building as shown in Tielman’s renderings while maintaining functionality would be to create a new corridor inside the exterior walls containing the new glass, but this would reduce the usable exhibit space in the main hall. This is impractical for a hall that, at 64,410 square feet, is already small by major convention center norms.

“All of the new convention centers- Seattle, San Diego, Pittsburgh, even our neighbor Erie, PA- have glass atrium public spaces. We looked at adding a glassed in lobby to the entrance area, which is great for public spaces, but I don’t think the idea of adding glass to the main exhibit space would work in this existing facility, because we need to use the exhibit hall as a ballroom and banquet space, and people want a controlled environment,” Murphy said.

“One of the biggest weaknesses of our current facility is the size of our ballroom and its ceiling height. Ideally, in a renovated or expanded or a new convention center, we will have a 20,000 square foot hotel-quality ballroom with high ceilings,” said Murphy. “Presently, Erie County has $5,000,000 allocated for capital improvements to the convention center. That will include improvements to the kitchen, adding technology to the building such as wireless access, and updating the elevators. Then we’ll begin to address the exhibit floor. There’s a lot of debate about whether it makes sense to invest in this building. Are we just putting lipstick on a pig? Well, the process for a new convention center- agreeing on a site, funding it and building it- is still many years away, and in the meantime, we have to invest in this facility to remain competitive and keep the share of business we have.”

Murphy mentioned other ideas that have been proposed for the current facility including expanding over Pearl Street toward Main, which could add both meeting and exhibit space; reconfiguring the loading dock, and creating a new, dramatic entrance on Court Street. The existing entrance from Court Street into the exhibit hall cannot be used because the steps leading up to it do not meet code. “The [current requirements for] handrails and the pitch have to be addressed. They’d have to be demolished and rebuilt.”

He doesn’t want to see the Hyatt walkway removed. “It’s very important for us to be connected to a 400-room hotel. As a facility in a northeast city, we need to give people that protection traveling back and forth.”

Where would Paul Murphy like to see a new convention center?

“Based on what’s available, I think the Cobblestone District would create a nice synergy with the HSBC Arena, the Harbor (see Erie's center, below), transportation access, and something that’s always been an issue, dedicated parking. Also, with UB’s investment and presence in downtown, I’d like to think a new convention center with the right amenities would give them a place to have conferences and host conventions in downtown Buffalo in the future.”

Ninety miles southwest of Buffalo, Erie’s new Bayfront Convention Center and its connected hotel sit on the shore of Lake Erie. About half the size of Buffalo’s existing convention center, its modern design and attractive location are a good example of how a small city can make the most of its resources. One of its amenities is a 12,000 sq. ft. patio that allows guests to step directly from an indoor meeting to a lakeside luncheon or cocktail party. It’s the kind of waterfront enhancement Buffalo could and should have soon.

In the meantime, our convention center should be utilized to its fullest and recognized for the versatile venue that it is, not dismissed because of its ugly duckling appearance. As the classic DDB ad for VW once proclaimed of the original Beetle, “It’s ugly, but it gets you there.”

*(Disclosure: I am a business owner whose company produces events for corporate and not-for-profit clients at many venues in the city, including the Convention Center. Very often our production requirements demand high ceilings with accessible rigging points, lots of electrical power, space for a large stage, and seating for 1200-1400 people. Because the Convention Center fits the bill, we have a lot of experience staging events there. Pictured above.)

Erie Convention Center

Erie Convention Center