Volunteers for the legal advocacy organization Save Our Springs and Austin United PAC’s Save the Soul of Austin campaign have spent the summer collecting petition signatures in an attempt to stop the construction of the new Austin Convention Center, until voted ahead or not by Austinites on the Nov. 4 ballot.
As they race to collect the 20,000 signatures needed to force a special referendum vote while the existing center is already being demolished, City Council members approved two measures on July 24 to move ahead on the Convention Center expansion and redevelopment project. One measure contracts up to $55 million to the project manager, Project Control of Texas Inc. The other allows a second, privately financed convention center (and resort hotel) to be constructed near the Circuit of the Americas with a renewable ground lease at no cost.
The $1.6 billion budget for the expansion project will be paid for through hotel occupancy tax and convention center revenue, though Save Our Springs points to city officials’ previous estimates, including construction debt, totaling $5.6 billion paid over 30 years.
The state’s intended purpose of local HOT revenue is to promote tourism and the convention and hotel industries. Nonetheless, Save Our Springs argues that the money would be better spent toward Austin’s water and parks eco-tourism, rather than tying up those funds with the convention center project.
“It’s a business model that is old, it’s tired.” – Resident Tamara Scott during public comment
The existing convention center finally shut down in April after plans for the new one have been in the works since 2014. The web page for the new building says that the old one had inadequate space as the convention center of the 11th-largest U.S. city, turning away nearly 50% of potential customers due to size constraints. They estimate the new center will make around $750 million annually for the city of Austin.
Opponents still doubt how lucrative the center will be. At the July 24 Council meeting, Laura Templeton, a former Austin Downtown Commission member, said that the convention center operated at a financial loss even before the pandemic tanked in-person conferences. A 2021 report from the city auditor found that the center’s operating expenses exceeded non-tax revenue each year from fiscal 2015 through 2019.
Resident Tamara Scott spoke next. “A convention center is not the future. It’s not looking forward. It’s a business model that is old, it’s tired, and I think that the people should be able to vote on this,” she said.
This article appears in August 1 • 2025.
