The mayor of St. Clair Township believes the time is right to look at building and operating a multi-use convention centre in the area.
Steve Arnold has asked Lambton County staff to look into the idea, ideally somewhere along Lake Huron or the St. Clair River. He says if a convention centre would have a tremendous impact on the local economy, and it's time to explore the possibility.
"That's essentially what I asked county council to do during the committee meeting, is have county staff investigate. I think it's time to look at exactly what options we should be pursuing," he says.
He says there are local facilities that could host smaller events, but he's eying something bigger.
"When you look at some of the ones I've been at where they've had more than 2,000 delegates, they're looking at $10-million in net revenue for the local community over the course of a couple days," says Arnold. "So if you bring the facility in and can do that on a regular basis, then that does nothing but stimulate the local economy."
Arnold says the process is still in its early stages, and they'll look at possible funding options down the road.
The request is expected to be considered by council when it meets in September.