Consultant advises city to expand convention center

NATCHEZ — Natchez Convention Center managers say a multi-million-dollar expansion of the center will be needed in two years.

The Natchez Democrat reports New Orleans Hotel Consultants president Warren Reuther told Mayor Butch Brown and aldermen at a meeting last week that the center is rapidly approaching 70-percent capacity.

Convention center manager Walter Tipton said the convention center is turning away events because of lack of space, mainly wedding receptions.

Reuther says the convention center is also in need of $174,500 in repairs, including resurfacing the exhibit hall floor and repairs to the sound system, elevator and repainting.

Brown said paying for repairs and an expansion of the convention center will require some “creative thinking.”