The city commissioned a feasibility study recently to see what impact a proposed hotel connected to the Civic Center would have on other hotels downtown. The Journal Star gives us our first peek at their results today.

After all the money that’s been put into the the recent Civic Center expansion, now we’re being told that it could be “all for naught” if a new hotel isn’t built as well:

“They say that the Civic Center can’t live up to its full potential without a connected hotel,” said Civic Center Authority commissioner Dan Silverthorn. “It’s critical to us, to our success. Yeah, it might affect some hotels.”

Oh, it will affect some hotels alright, and it will affect taxpayers, too. “Peoria could compete [with East Peoria’s new Embassy Suites] by building a new upscale hotel connected to the Civic Center, but HVS estimates it will cost $33 million – or about $132,000 per room – and the city will have to pony up,” the Journal Star reports. As if the city has any money! Furthermore, the study says, “Despite the projected growth in demand in the marketplace, the impact of a new Civic Center hotel will depress occupancy rates in the Downtown area for years.”

This sure is a far cry from past statements from the Civic Center. Just six months ago, in a memo from the Civic Center Authority to the Peoria City Council dated March 24, stated:

The Peoria Civic Center Authority is not now and has not previously requested public funding for a hotel. We have always hoped that a private development would be interested by the Peoria Civic Center expansion and upgrade to come forward with a proposal. We hope that the community will enable such a development.

The Peoria Civic Center Authority is committed and continues to be committed to the success of the expanded facilities. We believe it can be successful without an attached hotel but more and larger regional opportunities will be possible if more and better downtown hotel rooms are available.

So, six months ago the Civic Center Authority believed they could be successful without an attached hotel and were not requesting any public funding. Now, an attached hotel is “critical” to the Civic Center’s success, and city will have to pitch in to make it happen. I wonder what they’ll discover is critical another six months from now. A new parking deck? Connected restaurants and bars? A covered walkway to Museum Square?

It’s especially hilarious to hear Chuck Grayeb, who recently voted against spending $5,000 for a part-time training coordinator down at city hall because the city’s so broke, “has said he favors a new connected hotel as long as the city isn’t giving away too much to lure developers.” How could even consider giving away anything to “lure developers”?

This project is too big of a change order. Original plans for a Civic Center hotel were that it wouldn’t impact the costs of the expansion project. In fact, in 2004, David Manica, lead project designer for HOK Sport+Venue+Event, met with the Heart of Peoria Commission. Their minutes record: “Mr. Manica indicated there are plans to add a hotel at a future date without impacting the current cost of the project.” Now, just two years later, the hotel is suddenly a critical and very expensive component of the success of the project. To say this was poor planning would be an understatement. If it’s a critical component now, it was a critical component two years ago. Somebody didn’t do their homework.

Now there’s no money left for this project. Not with the city’s current budget woes. If the Civic Center, which has plenty of extra HRA tax funding to give away to ArtsPartners and the Peoria Area Visitors and Convention Bureau, can’t underwrite the cost of luring a hotel to their newly expanded facility without additional public funding, then they’re going to have to find a way to make their facility successful without it. Lack of planning on their part does not equal a crisis on the city’s (and the taxpayer’s) part.