Officials tout poll supporting Berea convention center

Disclaimer: The following story is based not on fact, but on innuendo, fantasy, half truths and rumor, which is good enough for us!

If Berea builds it, conventioneers will come.

That was the message from City Hall after a recent poll showed a majority of local residents prefer the construction of a convention center in Berea to other proposed alternatives.

City Administrator Randy Stone reported that 50.6 percent of respondents expressed a preference for a new convention center, which reportedly would be financed with a three-percent restaurant tax imposed at local eateries. “Given the alternatives, the choice was fairly clear,” said Stone, hailing the results of the poll.

While community leaders have proposed building a slightly more ornate structure, the above is the latest artist's conception for the proposed Berea Convention Center.

But officials declined to reveal the exact nature of the alternatives presented in the poll until the questionnaire data was obtained by Berea Online under the Freedom of Information Act. Many contend the questionnaire was worded in a way that skewed results in favor of the city’s desired outcome. The survey asked:

“If you were forced, at gunpoint, to chose one of the following or face the prospect of being shot and thrown into a shallow grave, which of the below alternatives would you prefer?”

Since alcohol sales are not permitted in the city of Berea, many of the region's major food vendors aren't bidding on a contract for the proposed Berea Convention Center. The center's advocates, however, point to an independent contractor(pictured above)who is willing to provide beverage service at the new facility.

While a majority of respondents opted for the convention center, participants were divided among the other three choices offered. Approximately 28 percent preferred city tax dollars to be spent on a joint city/corporate venture called Dr. Scholl’s Family Fun Bunion and Corn Center at Berea. The facility would be an informational center/theme park emphasizing foot care, bunion and corn treatment. Running a distant third in the poll at 10 percent was the Berea Olde Time Landfill and Wild West Rat Shooting Gallery, which was a strong choice among the city’s outdoor, landfill, and gun enthusiasts.

Of the remaining 11 percent polled, seven percent preferred to be strapped to a steel bed and flayed with live electrical cables, while four percent preferred to be tied up and dipped head first into a festering vat of rancid spoon bread, rather than pay for a new convention center with a restaurant tax.

Whether a convention center could be sustainable in a dry city has been a point of contention among some city leaders. However, two organizations quelled that argument when they expressed interest in the center for a gathering place once it is ultimately built: the Brotherhood of Mormon Accountants and the Girl Scouts of America.

Written by Andy McDonald - BereaOnline.com Contributing Editor