Denver Host Committee Co-Chair: Denver Well Positioned

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Lou Kilzer of the Rocky Mountain News has been all over the Denver convention story the last few days, and he has more today:

Steve Farber [Denver Host Committee Co-Chair], a Denver lawyer with strong national ties to the Democratic Party, said he thinks that Denver is well positioned to win the nod. "There's no room for place or show," said Farber, who co-chairs the committee trying to bring the convention to Denver.

Farber said that a Denver convention aims not only at nudging a red state into the blue column but also at pushing a whole region in that direction. "This is the West's Democratic convention," he said. "For Democrats to win, they have to start focusing on the West."

Costs for the winning bidder could be steep. Denver's host committee estimated that $72 million could be spent on the event, although the final negotiated figure likely will be less, said Katherine Archuleta, the city's chief operating officer.

Most of the price will be picked up by funds raised by the host committee, but security costs could be $25 million, the committee estimated. Most of the police costs could be reimbursed by the federal government, Archuleta said.

Whatever the final price tag, benefits also could be major. The convention will attract about 35,000 attendees renting 15,000 rooms for several days, the city estimates.

Boston, host of the 2004 convention, estimated that the convention boosted the economy by $163 million, said Richard Scharf, president of the Denver Metro Convention and Visitors Bureau. He also said the whole world would be watching Denver, something that could bring incalculable benefit. That is, he conceded, unless it turns out like Chicago's 1968 convention - the scene of widespread protests and police clashes.

Estimates of economic effects are usually suspect, but for cities like Denver and Minneapolis, hosting a convention can provide longer term benefits that are hard to quantify.