Does Park County need a convention center?

A lot of primarily Cody leaders certainly think so and have roped in the support of Park County Commissioners to at least study the Park County Complex’s upper floors to see whether the former Marathon building can hold 500 people.

That number, 500, seems to be the magic one for becoming a true convention town. Both Bruce Sauers, from the Buffalo Bill Center of the West, and Ryan Hauck of the Park County Travel Council, mentioned having to turn away many groups hoping to come to the area for conventions, but needing a center with 500-plus people.

The two were joined by Cody Mayor Matt Hall in asking for support to examine the complex and then move forward with a committee to look further into what it would take. Their arguments have merit, in that conventions, especially in the shoulder seasons and winter months, could help many businesses, especially in tourist-reliant Cody, stay open in the slow winter months.

However, the question should be asked, do we need to be able to host big conventions? And if we build a 500-person center and then a bunch of 600-plus convention groups ask to come, would we expand it?

Furthermore, what role should local government have in this? Should our tax dollars go to help build a convention center in Cody that will certainly help Cody first and foremost?

For starters, the county just agreed to look into the cost of bringing a structural engineer in for a “big picture” look at the Park County Complex. I don’t see anything wrong with spending up to $10,000 to do that. If you can jam a bunch of people in that often underutilized building and drum up business, why not?

But if the cost to renovate the building to do that is high, or it it’s determined a whole new building would be needed, there needs to be a real chance for people to ask questions.

I’ll probably have a few more too. Like if the complex won’t work, what about the Cody Auditorium, which held at least 500 people for a city planning and zoning hearing not too long ago without even touching the Cody Club Room.

And we should ask the philosophical questions too, such as how many more visitors do we need, or want, in the area? We’re always going to be too small for a lot of groups, even if our 30,000 person county population continues to rise.

And where do we draw the line?