Today in Ohio - Oct. 9, 2026 Chris Ronayne's foolish convention center ploy is endangering Cleveland's lakefront plan

Well, Chris, I think the biggest reason is that Cleveland has an actual project that's funded and it's moving toward construction, while the county has little more than an idea here.

And Mayor Justin Bibb is, is making it abundantly clear that he's not going to jeopardize years of work on the Lakefront to accommodate a hypothetical convention center expansion.

The city is, is preparing to seek qualifications from companies that would design and build the North Coast Connector, that long-awaited pedestrian land bridge connecting downtown to Lake Erie.

It's a $284 million first-phase project, and Cleveland has already secured about $150 million in state and federal grants.

There's a procurement process getting underway.

There's an environmental review beginning.

There's a clear path toward construction.

Now compare that with the county's convention center idea.

There is no formal proposal, no engineering plan, no financing, no timeline.

The whole thing appears to have grown out of a consultant study suggesting Cleveland needs more convention space to compete with other cities.

And while maybe that's worth pr- exploring, it's hardly a reason to upend a project that's been in development for nearly four years.

And those $150 million in grants are not a blank check here.

They're specifically tied to transportation improvements, including the land bridge, the Shoreway conversion, and better pedestrian access.

The city must meet federal requirements for the project's scope, budget, and schedule.

Trying to redesign the bridge around a, a, a potential convention center expansion that doesn't even exist yet could delay this project and potentially put that funding at risk.

There's also the question of whether this expansion is even necessary or financially realistic.

The convention just underwent a $51, uh, million renovation, and it's actually outperforming its current goals for events and hotel room bookings.

Some Convention Center board members have questioned whether it would make more sense to improve Public Auditorium rather than build an entirely new expansion.

And Bibb has pointed out that the region already faces a nearly half-billion-dollar funding gap at Gateway, not to mention enormous pressures on other public services.

So when Han- when Hannah Drown spoke to the mayor this week, Bibb called the Convention Center proposal a pie-in-the-sky project and said he is not gonna squander a once-in-a-century o- opportunity to transform the Lakefront.

Now the city isn't saying the Convention Center can never expand.

It's saying that if the county eventually develops a credible funded proposal, it needs to work around the land bridge, not the other way around, and that's really the bottom line with Clev- Cleveland is not going to put a funded, shovel-bound vision for its Lakefront on hold for a convention center expansion that nobody has figured out how to build or pay for.

All right, there are so many things wrong with this.

It has me wishing we could abolish the charter.

It's just another sign of how flawed our county government is.

Well, Chris, I think the biggest reason is that Cleveland has an actual project that's funded and it's moving toward construction, while the county has little more than an idea here.

And Mayor Justin Bibb is, is making it abundantly clear that he's not going to jeopardize years of work on the Lakefront to accommodate a hypothetical convention center expansion.

The city is, is preparing to seek qualifications from companies that would design and build the North Coast Connector, that long-awaited pedestrian land bridge connecting downtown to Lake Erie.

It's a $284 million first-phase project, and Cleveland has already secured about $150 million in state and federal grants.

There's a procurement process getting underway.

There's an environmental review beginning.

There's a clear path toward construction.

Now compare that with the county's convention center idea.

There is no formal proposal, no engineering plan, no financing, no timeline.

The whole thing appears to have grown out of a consultant study suggesting Cleveland needs more convention space to compete with other cities.

And while maybe that's worth pr- exploring, it's hardly a reason to upend a project that's been in development for nearly four years.

And those $150 million in grants are not a blank check here.

They're specifically tied to transportation improvements, including the land bridge, the Shoreway conversion, and better pedestrian access.

The city must meet federal requirements for the project's scope, budget, and schedule.

Trying to redesign the bridge around a, a, a potential convention center expansion that doesn't even exist yet could delay this project and potentially put that funding at risk.

There's also the question of whether this expansion is even necessary or financially realistic.

The convention just underwent a $51, uh, million renovation, and it's actually outperforming its current goals for events and hotel room bookings.

Some Convention Center board members have questioned whether it would make more sense to improve Public Auditorium rather than build an entirely new expansion.

And Bibb has pointed out that the region already faces a nearly half-billion-dollar funding gap at Gateway, not to mention enormous pressures on other public services.

So when Han- when Hannah Drown spoke to the mayor this week, Bibb called the Convention Center proposal a pie-in-the-sky project and said he is not gonna squander a once-in-a-century o- opportunity to transform the Lakefront.

Now the city isn't saying the Convention Center can never expand.

It's saying that if the county eventually develops a credible funded proposal, it needs to work around the land bridge, not the other way around, and that's really the bottom line with Clev- Cleveland is not going to put a funded, shovel-bound vision for its Lakefront on hold for a convention center expansion that nobody has figured out how to build or pay for.

All right, there are so many things wrong with this.

It has me wishing we could abolish the charter.

It's just another sign of how flawed our county government is.