Potential Abilene Convention Center renovations

ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) – The Abilene City Council recently met for their annual retreat on Friday, January 31. Spending the day reflecting on projects and goals for the upcoming year. One of those projects is renovations to the Abilene Convention Center. It was in May 2024 when City Manager Robert Hanna mentioned that the Hilton DoubleTree Hotel in downtown Abilene was outperforming the Abilene Convention Center.

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At the meeting, the council listened to a report made by Garfield Public/Private LLC, who were tasked in the spring of 2024 to create suggestions on what renovations are needed at the convention center to make it work hand in hand with the hotel. Lasting for generations to come. Steve Galbreath represented Garfield Public/Private LLC, sharing ideas like changes to the atrium, green room, and patio area.

The atrium creates a modern look perfect for cocktail hour or banquets. The green room renovations make it appealing for other artists and acts to visit Abilene, and the patio area serves as a space for VIP experiences or meet-the-cast social events. However, an extensive renovation will be done to the auditorium to add more aisles, update seating, and make it more ADA-friendly.

“It’s very difficult to go anywhere in the convention center if you are not mobile. So right now, if you had your mom or your dad in a wheelchair and you were going to take them to a show and your seats were not in the very back, you will have to take them out the doors into the parking lot around the corner and come back in to get to that space, and that’s just not acceptable,” explained Galbreath.

With the Hilton Double Tree hotel right next door, Galbreath shares that renovations to the convention center can help make these two sites work together.

“We were with John Kay and the hotel to really figure out how these two pieces work together because that’s really the idea. It was to bring in this hotel convention center to maximize high-impact business for the city,” added Galbreath.

Galbreath and City Manager Robert Hanna explained competitions like Heritage Square in Abilene, revitalizing an eight-acre tract into a community space. Once construction is complete, it will feature an auditorium space.

“So, let’s start with having the heritage square. I think the audience for that particular product is different than the convention space that we’re talking about. You’ve got a highly creative, active-oriented museum and learning center that has an auditorium and auditorium space that’s going to be a place for children to learn, hear from experts, and be educated. But they’re really intending not to have that competitive environment. They’re trying to serve a niche market that we frankly don’t serve right now,” shared Hanna.

The convention center renovation plan costs about 68 million, but of course, with any construction project, numbers change as months go by. Hanna says there are many ways to go about it.

“Additional hot tax on hotel night stays, so it’s not Abileneans that are paying for that. It’s the people that are passing through using the facility. The other way of doing it would be asking the voters, and maybe you do both, even maybe you do the venue district, and then you ask the voters to issue bonds in the amount that would be the delta of whatever the total project costs would be,” added Hanna.

The council, taking in all these suggestions, meets again later to decide if any action will be taken. You can learn more here: Jan 31, 2025, City Council Retreat – Abilene, TX.