Saffo: proposed UNCW conference center won’t compete with city’s

WILMINGTON — Wilmington Mayor Bill Saffo says a proposed UNCW conference center would not compete with the city’s new convention center and, in fact, could actually help draw visitors to our town.

Last week when the university foundation announced plans to move forward with their project, some city officials expressed concern that it might be in contention with the city’s convention center.

In an interview today with Saffo he said the more venues we have to accommodate visitors, the better.

The mayor is on the university’s foundation board that proposed and approved the project. He said he didn’t announce the plans for the center sooner because the foundation wasn’t ready to move forward with the project until last week.

He said the two facilities won’t compete because they cater to different clientele, and the more options we have, the better.

Saffo said. “This is a growing region. Not only the New Hanover County is growing, but also our region. Brunswick County is growing, Pender County is growing, two of the fastest growing counties in the state are growing. So we have more people coming here, more people wanting to put events on here. Now they may be regional in scope, they may be statewide in scope, they may be national in scope but I think that we don’t have enough facilities to accommodate what we need right now.”

The executive director of the university foundation says the proposed facility will only be used for academic programs and that the board had consulted with city officials to make sure there were no conflicts before moving forward with the plans for the new facility.

If approved the university conference center will be nearly half the size of the city’s convention center and include an attached hotel. The foundation wants to build the facility across the street from UNCW on South College Road.

Categories: New Hanover

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *