Some Cities Offer A Cautionary Tale

The following is excerpted from the the Miami Herald McClatchy-Tribune Regional News:

Feb. 23, 2008 – Hopes were high in 2000 when St. Louis raised nearly $200 million to build a new headquarters hotel for the city's convention center.

"St. Louis has accomplished something that has eluded most other cities for years," tourism director Bob Bedell said after final approval of the plan. The 1,100-room hotel "will put our hospitality industry into the first tier of convention cities."

Eight years later, the Gateway City is still waiting for that status upgrade. Meanwhile, the headquarters hotel is flirting with bankruptcy and not expected to cover the debt payments until 2012.