Utah County and Provo officials should seriously consider spending almost $32 million to expand convention center space in downtown Provo, according to a task force convened to study the issue.

The Utah Valley Convention Center Task Force recommended adding 54,000 square feet of convention space on the southwest corner of 100 North and Freedom Boulevard that would connect to existing convention facilities at the downtown Marriott by a skybridge.

Task force chairman and Zions Bank executive Kelly Ward presented the proposal to the Utah County Commission Tuesday morning and later to the Provo City Council. Commissioners took no immediate action. The Council soundly supports the concept.

Ward also identified several potential funding sources, including hotel, restaurant and rental car taxes, city innkeeper fees, state and federal funds, and private donations. He said the funding responsibility should fall on those who use and benefit from the convention center, not the general taxpaying public.

This isn't the only convention center proposal floating around. A Missouri businessman has proposed building a 300-room hotel and a 100,000-square-foot convention center at the Pleasant Grove interchange as well as a separate 220-room hotel with additional meeting space. Construction on that project is scheduled to start in March.

Also planned for that area is a 106-acre shopping mall and a 350,000-square-foot business park.

Responding to questions from commissioners, Ward said downtown Provo remains an attractive location for conventions because it's close to restaurants and shopping. A convention center expansion downtown could also lead to more hotel and retail development there, he said.

He also said that demand for hotel and convention space in Utah County may be reaching the point that, as in Salt Lake County, two convention centers could co-exist.

The expansion would include 20,000 square feet for exhibits and ballroom use, 7,000 square feet for smaller meetings and 27,000 square feet of "prefunction" space. There would also be underground parking and space set aside for further expansion, and the estimated cost is $31.9 million.

The goal, said Ward, is to attract events from outside the area that can't fit into existing facilities at the Marriott, Brigham Young University or Utah Valley State College. In addition, the report notes, some events that already take place here are on the verge of outgrowing local convention space.

A report prepared for the task force estimates the expansion would bring 246 additional events a year, create 159 new full- and part-time jobs and have an economic impact of $10 million a year.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page D1.