By Luis A. Mendoza and Robert Edwin Field

(Editor’s note: The NewsLanc article was first published about three years ago.)

Despite repeated requests by the undersigned then city councilman and other officials and concerned citizens to view the PricewaterhouseCoopers 2000 and 2002 purported “feasibility studies,” access was denied. It was alarming to learn recently that the so called “feasibility studies” were merely market studies. But, upon finally having an opportunity to review the market studies, it is shocking to discover that they are more negative than positive in their implications. Here are quotes from the studies:

· “Air access (‘an airport served by major airlines’) is important for national and regional events where the majority of attendees fly to the destination…. Lancaster’s closet major airport is located approximately 30 miles north of the city in Harrisburg.”

· “Highway access to the center is relevant for statewide and local events since attendees tend to drive to the destination and the venue.”

· “A wide range of attractions and amenities help a destination draw a greater number of attendees and increase the possibility of attendees bringing accompanying persons.”

· “…trade shows are generally located in destinations offering large regional resident populations, large metropolitan area hotel room inventories, a facility with more contiguous exhibit space than can be accommodated in a center city location, and an airport served by major airlines.”

· “…for professional association facilities, surveys of meeting planners and association executives typically state lack of a concentration of proximate high quality hotel rooms, unique shopping outlets, or a wide variety of nearby restaurants as main reasons for not selecting a center of destination.”

· “Multilevel exhibition halls are successfully marketed in only a few of the most popular destinations in the world, such as Boston and Hong Kong.”