I am a bit behind on my commentary on a number of issues including one that was in the August 21st issue of the Northglenn-Thornton Sentinel.  The Thornton City Council recently heard a proposal for building a regional convention center in the north part of town, possibly along I-25 near 144th or 136th.

As I have said before, Thornton needs to foward agressively to take advantage of all the land it has available and work to become more than just a bedroom community.  We have no large employers beyond governmental-type agencies and we have no real facilities to draw visitors into our fine city.  This can be corrected if we take the right steps.

The idea of a regional convention center in Thornton is a great one and I wholeheartedly encourage the city to move forward at the earliest opportunity with this.  A regional convention center would be a great way to take steps toward putting us on the map for having more than just housing.

From what the article indicates, the presentation did not really see a downside to it.  There is of course a cost involved and how such a project is paid for is problematic for Thornton.  A sales tax increase is almost certainly out of the question as we already have one of the highest tax rates in the metro area.  There are most likely other avenues available though including perhaps a bond issue or a bond in conjunction with a private partnership of some sort.

The city needs to investigate the feasibility of such a project and if there is a chance, let’s move on it!

Of course all it takes is money to make this happen but I would throw out one additional idea.  The sports center idea was one I had thought of previously but with the Broomfield Event Center and the Budweiser Event Center up north, there probably wouldn’t be demand for another.  However, what about throwing in some sort of a performing arts theatre / complex with the convention center?  I could see where the two could easily go hand in hand, share facilities and thus bring down the cost as compared to if they were built separately.  In the quasi-north area there is the Arvada Center which is of course tremendously popular and to a lesser extent, the Northglenn DL Parson Theatre.  I think a performing arts center of our own could draw on the entire north area and would be a potential boon for the city.

And what the heck, while we are dreaming….  Let’s annex some land in Weld County and build a NASCAR track!  I say that somewhat seriously as all possibilities should be considered.