SEASIDE, Ore.
A financial study to review funding options for an $18 million, 30,000-square-foot expansion of the Seaside Civic and Convention Center is now on hold, according to Russ Vandenberg, Seaside Civic and Convention Center general manager.
"We have decided to postpone pursuing the financial report," Vandenberg said. "It is not the climate at this point to pursue it. That doesn't mean that the project is lying in the water, it just means we will wait until next year to pursue it."
The financial study would define what options would be available to pay for the Center expansion, such as increasing the hotel/motel room tax, applying for lottery profits and other state funding, if a decision is made to move ahead with the project.
"But the financial report becomes dated quickly because of loans and grants available, current interest rates, and the changing money markets and the cost of borrowing money," Vandenberg said. Vandenberg estimated that the financial study would cost $40,000 to $50,000.
"I don't want to spend that kind of money and not use the report," he said. "If we move forward, we want to give this project the best possibility for success when the time is right."
