ST. LOUIS — The NAACP President said the renovations at the America’s Center will remain paused until the entire project is ready to move forward.
In 2019, St. Louis City and County Leaders made a deal to use tourism tax dollars to fund the $210 expansion of the America’s Center in downtown. Excess funds would be used to fund tourism opportunities across the region. 35% of excess funds were guaranteed to go to a community center in North St. Louis County. NAACP St. Louis Chapter President Adolphus Pruitt said this promise isn’t being kept.
“It should be just as much of a priority to see this happen as the expansion,” Pruitt said. “It's something that brings tourism to the region. Tourism is their life blood. They should be ecstatic about any opportunity to do that. They should be benevolent enough to want to make sure that in this part of north county, these underserved populations have the opportunity to participate in the revenue streams that tourism creates."
Pruitt was in the room when the deal was struck in 2019 with city and county leaders. Now St. Louis County Councilwoman Rita Days is withholding her support of the project until more work is done on the North County project. Pruitt wants to know who is responsible for seeing this portion of the plan through.
“There’s no semblance that we can rely on the folks that be to allow for something like to happen,” Pruitt said. “Again, if they have the ability to put the brakes on whenever they want, we may never get there.”
In a letter, the St. Louis Convention and Visitors Bureau outlined that they only oversee the money. They aren’t in charge of seeing the plan through. They said they are playing a role in the shaping of the project, even offering free counseling at one point to make sure things go smoothly. They admit this entire process was slowed by the pandemic.
Pruitt points to the existing travel ban on St. Louis as a way to speed up the plans to make sure the initial deal and community center project get back on track.
"It is not a tool that I want to suggest or wave around like a mad man with a sword,” the chapter president said. “But let’s be clear, just like everyone used all of the tools they have in their tool box, when it comes to fighting for equity for people of color, members of the protected class or marginalized people in this region. We will use every tool in our tool box.”
The convention center expansion will create a larger ballroom, better exhibit space, add 26 loading docks and make the facility more appealing to more conventions.