(This story was updated to add new information and to change a photo and add photos.)
The city of Wichita Falls is seeking a partner to manage the Multi-Purpose Events Center.
City spokesman Chris Horgen issued a statement late Wednesday that said, “The city is currently exploring options with potential partners to manage the MPEC facilities.”
The statement provided no further details and did not say who the potential partners were.
The City Council had considered the matter in a closed-door session at a regular meeting on July 10.
The city has used an outside agency to manage the facilities in the past.
Spectra Venue Management began managing the MPEC in late 2016, but it continued to operate at a loss, according to a report in the May 2, 2017, Times Record News.
The city announced in July 2021 that it was ending the deal with Spectra, and management reverted to the city.
Horgen’s statement did not indicate whether any partnership would apply just to the Ray Clymer Exhibit Hall or to other parts of the complex.
O’Reilly Hospitality, which built the Delta Marriott hotel on the grounds of the MPEC, has an agreement with the city to operate the city-owned convention center, which O’Reilly constructed adjacent to the hotel.
Paying for MPEC operations
The city’s chief financial officer, Stephen Calvert, told the City Council during a presentation June 23 the city might need to supplement funds to the MPEC and the Convention and Visitors Bureau because hotel usage and corresponding tax revenue have declined.
The city has subsidized operations of the MPEC on several occasions, according to previous TRN reports.
For 2025, city budgeted a $430,00 subsidy from the general fund for MPEC.
The hotel/motel tax funded about $4.19 million for it, according to the final budget. The budget projected expenditures would increase 29% over the previous year because of salary increases and the addition of positions.
The city website indicates MPEC has 21 administrative positions.
The budgeted salaries costs were approximately $1.409 million not including benefits.
The budget also projected MPEC revenue would increase 9.72% over the prior year due to an increase in events at the venues.
Funding to build MPEC
Wichita Falls residents voted in July 1992 for an $18 million bond issue to pay for a portion of construction of the MPEC complex, leaving $7 million to be raised from private sources.
The MPEC project was originally planned to include three major facilities: the agriculture center, the exhibit hall and a coliseum, but cost overruns put construction of the planned 10,000-seat coliseum on hold. The coliseum, reduced to 7,380 seats, was completed in 2003.
This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: UPDATED: City looks for partner to manage MPEC
Reporting by Lynn Walker, Wichita Falls Times Record News / Wichita Falls Times Record News
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