Mayor praises ‘gold mine’
Bowling tournament to bring influx of cash to city
The massive bowling tournament kicking off next week at the Baton Rouge River Center is expected to have the largest economic impact of all the city’s events this year , city-parish and tournament officials said Wednesday.
The tournament will pump about $65 million into the parish economy, Mayor-President Kip Holden said.
Without that cash, Holden said, the city would have had to either increase taxes or cut services and staff in order to balance the annual city-parish budget.
“This conference is really a gold mine in this economy,” Holden said at a news conference marking the end of six weeks of construction of the River Center bowling alley’s.
Holden added: “This should be the city’s most profitable year since I’ve been mayor.”
The United States Bowling Congress tournament, which will run from Feb. 11 through July 10, will attract about 120,000 people from across the country to Louisiana . Most visitors will stay between three and four days in the city, tournament planners said.
Tournament registrants will come from all 50 states to compete for an estimated prize of between $4.5 million and $7.5 million, tournament planners said.
The gleaming bright blue-and-gold 48-lane bowling alley cost $1.7 million and took six weeks to build, tournament planners said. The 45,000-square-foot facility, which can hold 600 spectators, features a giant screen above the alleys surrounded by large photos of the Mississippi River and other scenes.
“I’ve never seen anything like this facility at all,” said Duane Hagen, the tournament’s manager.
The city, along with Visit Baton Rouge, formerly known as the Baton Rouge Convention and Visitors Bureau, contributed $1.1 million to the tournament, Holden said.
“This is truly an unprecedented level of support from a mayor’s office,” said Brian Lewis, USBC managing director of tournaments.
When Baton Rouge first hosted the tournament in 2005, more than 130,000 visitors helped to pump about $75 million into the local economy. Additionally, the city collected between 10 percent and 20 percent more in sales and casino tax revenues during the first six months of the tournament, which lasts several months.
Since 2005, however, the city has undergone substantial development, allowing for an even greater economic impact from the tournament this year, said Paul Arrigo, president of Visit Baton Rouge.
While in town, bowlers and their families tend to spend a lot of money on dining out and entertainment, Lewis said.
In fact, Lewis said, bowlers surveyed in past conferences said their primary reason for attending the conference was to “have fun in the host city” rather than out of devotion to the sport itself.
The state contributed about $40,000 to the tournament’s costs, said Cathy Berry, chief of staff for Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne. The state saw the potential for a large economic ripple effect, Berry said, as bowling tourists would also likely take advantage of the various statewide events marking Louisiana’s bicentennial celebration.
“We hope the tourists go golf, fish, take the swamp tours and, of course, eat our delicious Louisiana seafood,” Berry said.
Another $400,000 was contributed by various statewide business partners, such as the two downtown casinos, Holden said.
The tournament will hire between 50 and 75 local residents to help run operations, according to a news release from tournament planners.
The lumber and drywall used to construct the bowling alley were supplied by a local company, Holmes Lumber, and there was enough lumber to construct at least five three-bedroom homes, Moore said.
The paint was purchased at Sherwin-Williams on Perkins Road, tournament planners said.
After the tournament ends, the bowling lanes will be transported to Reno, Nev., to be re-used and eventually sold, tournament planners said. The other materials will be donated to Habitat for Humanity, tournament planners said.
Correction:
The $65 million in taxes figure reported in the second paragraph is an estimate of the tournament’s economic impact within the parish.