Home builders' association blasts St. John's Convention Centre management

The CEO of  the Canadian Home Builders' Association says operations of the new St. John's Convention Centre will be "detrimental to tourism" in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Kevin Lee outlined a litany of complaints about convention centre management — including high fees, lack of communication, and inadequate cleaning —  in a letter to the premier after the group's national conference in May.

"Holding our annual conference at the St. John's Convention Centre this year was the most unnecessarily difficult and costly exercise we have experienced in decades," wrote Lee.

Lee's letter — dated Sept. 11, 2017, and copied to Tourism Minister Christopher Mitchelmore, then-St. John's mayor Dennis O'Keefe, and St. John's Sports and Entertainment chair Robert Verge — lists several complaints. 

• Materials handling fees were "unnecessarily imposed on goods that could have been brought in and out of the venue by their own providers and were charged at rates much higher than industry standard. Lee cited a charge of $400 to move "a few boxes" from a car by the centre's front door to the inside, which took 10 minutes.
• "Exorbitant internet and power charges" and much higher than usual rates for furniture and equipment rental.
• The centre's exclusive catering provider erred on convention's final luncheon, "serving much too little food and leaving attendees very hungry." Lee said when staff were told of the problem, they had no way to fix it "and then complained when we stated we would be paying less than full price" as a result. 
• The facility was "not adequately cleaned before, during or after functions, and rooms were not ready for our scheduled functions."

Lee wrote that the problems resulted in a convention that was below the association's standards.

"As a result, it pains me to say our association cannot recommend the St. John's Convention Centre as a venue to hold an event, and we have heard many other organizations find themselves in the same position."

CBC has requested comment from Lee but have not received a response.

'Glowing reference' from conference planner

Sheena McCrate, CEO of St. John's Sports and Entertainment, which manages the convention centre, said she was aware of the letter, but said the lead planner of the conference was thrilled with the service and the experience.

"And then that letter materialized, which is in stark contrast to the glowing reference of the person who is on the ground, working the event," she said. "I don't know if it was an intent to try and reduce the bill or … I really don't know."

McCrate said "from time to time" any business will receive comments on how to improve service but says "by and large" there have been no major complaints about operations.

"We've had several very large national conferences come through, and they've been pleased, and for the most part have committed, or indicated that they'd like to return."

Catering contract

CBC recently reported that the Delta Hotel has lost the contract for convention centre catering. McCrate said Delta's 15-year contract was due to expire in May, so — as required for a publicly funded institution — a request for proposals went out in October, with five companies bidding on the contract.

CBC has learned the contract will be going to Centerplate of Stamford, Conn., but McCrate said Tuesday a deal has not been signed yet.

McCrate wouldn't say if the Delta was among the five companies that submitted proposals, but said complaints about service would be factored into awarding a contract.

"If we had comments about the food quality or the customer service or the price of food, those are all things that we have considered in negotiating," she said.

McCrate said she couldn't comment on specific proposals, but noted that as the contract holder, Delta set pricing for food and beverage service, and added that there have been local groups that "have an opinion" about prices charged for food and beverage.

"They want to see some flexibility there, so that was crucial part of this new agreement, that we need to be able to work with different groups, realizing that different groups have different requirements, and you're gonna need to be flexible in terms of how you price things, particularly food, for maybe local versus national or what have you," she said.

McCrate also called concerns about the contract going to a U.S.-based company "ridiculous," noting that the Delta is owned by Marriott.

"There's no difference right now in us being partnered with a U.S. company," she said. "So this fear, or misinformation that's out there about the fact that locals won't get these jobs, is unfounded."