Oceanfront Convention Center Urged

In their latest bid to raise revenue, Ventura Port District officials are suggesting that the city turn a vacant spit of oceanfront property into a convention center--a project they said could help bail out the bankrupt district while enhancing the city’s tourism industry.

At their meeting Wednesday night, Port District commissioners agreed to send a letter to the City Council today suggesting that the two agencies work together to develop a proposal.

“I think probably the convention center and marine center would be the highest and best public use,” Commissioner Robert N. Starr said during the meeting.

Although one harbor businessman criticized the idea, saying it would worsen traffic, Port District commissioners unanimously agreed to send the letter and at least look into the project, which could be paired with an aquarium and marine education center.

“It is a great piece of property,” Chairman Richard B. Chess said before the meeting. “It is one of the jewels available in the city right now for development.”

The Port District’s plan would add yet another proposal to a long list of projects vying for city funding, including a $9-million nest egg set aside eight years ago for construction of a convention center at the Ventura County Fairgrounds.

Before the meeting, Commissioner Gary P. Jacobs said district officials have been discussing the proposal for several months and believe it would be a benefit to the region.

“We think it is the best way to bring people to the port,” he said. “We also think it is the best location for a convention center.”

The 20-acre site near the mouth of Ventura Harbor is the Port District’s crown jewel, and its development is critical to keep the cash-strapped harbor financially viable, officials say.

The agency declared bankruptcy three years ago and still faces the possibility of court-ordered debt payments.

In February, district officials asked the City Council to approve a zoning change for the land that would allow a residential housing project to go forward. The proposal was postponed for two months.

At the same time, the separate proposal to build a marine education center on the land is being developed.

District officials say all three projects could be built on the land.

“It goes back to exploring all your options,” Chess said before the meeting. “We are considering several possible uses for that property. We want to make sure nothing is left unnoticed.”

Ambitious plans for a 120,000-square-foot convention center at the Ventura County Fairgrounds were shot down by an advisory vote of the city’s voters in 1988.

Since then, the more than $9 million set aside for the development of a convention facility has languished in a bank account--money city leaders have eyed for a variety of projects, including Centerplex, the proposed baseball stadium and sports complex.

Although the community balked at the fairgrounds proposal, Port District General Manager Richard Parsons said the harbor land would invite an entirely different type of project, one that would be attractive to business groups, given its unique location.

“There is probably no other site in the city with water on three sides,” Parsons said. “It couldn’t be any more attractive.”

Wednesday, Mayor Jack Tingstrom said he was intrigued by the Port District’s proposal, particularly if it would help the agency get out from under its hefty debt.

“I would be open to anything that would help the Port District out,” he said.

But Councilman Jim Monahan, a proponent of the original fairgrounds plan, questioned whether a convention center would be the best use for the harbor property.

“I just don’t think the right proposal has come along yet,” he said.

Monahan said he would listen to the district’s proposal. “But I think we shouldn’t continually try to take this $9.5 million and try to do other things with it,” he said.