TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — The Vigo County Capital Improvement Board will soon have a recommendation for management of the convention center coming to Terre Haute.

In late December of 2019, the Vigo County Capital Improvement Board issued a request for proposal, searching for an operator for a downtown Terre Haute convention center.

“When they came in, we had three national companies that actually had put in these proposals,” said Judy Anderson, Vigo County Capital Improvement Board member.

These three companies include ASM Global, Spectra, and OVG Facilities.

Tuesday, these three companies were interviewed by a committee made up of Vigo County and Terre Haute officials, plus representatives from Nations Group.

“We had a very detailed presentation from each group about their capabilities, what their strategy was for marketing and managing the convention center and parking garage,” said Steven Bauer, VP of Nations Group.

Bauer says in the coming weeks the committee hopes to make a recommendation to the CIB on who they believe should operate the convention center.

“We will convene sometime in the next two weeks to make a recommended selection,” Bauer said.

Anderson says officials will have a critical decision on their hands during this selection process.

“This person is going to be basically in charge of the convention center and the museum and all those things and so it’s very important we get all the details from these people we can get,” Anderson said.

Anderson says for an operator to be brought on board some progress must be made on the convention center.

The project has been put on hold while an issue surrounding downtown parking is resolved.

The Terre Haute City Council is expected to hear the ordinance that has paused convention convention plans at their March 5th meeting.

Mayor Duke Bennett, Dave Patterson with the Vigo County Convention and Visitors Bureau, CIB president Jon Marvel, and representatives from Nations Groups interviewed the three potential candidates.