City and university officials held a press conference Tuesday at the Ames Convention and Visitors Bureau, 213 Duff Ave., to explain the importance of the April 27 election to raise the hotel/motel tax from 5 to 7 percent.

The tax increase would pay for $2.4 million of the proposed $5.9 million Hilton Coliseum expansion plans. The expansion is essential to making Ames a competitive venue, said Betty Baudler, co-chairwoman of the expansion committee and ACVB board member.

“Hilton Coliseum is an important asset to our community, and it’s the largest asset to the Iowa State Center,” she said.

Baudler said the top names in entertainment are looking for venues with at least 16,000 seats, and in order for Hilton to remain competitive with newer facilities, 1,465 seats must be added.

“The world does change; there are bigger facilities being built,” she said.

Dan Krieger, co-chairman of the expansion committee and president of First National Bank, Fifth and Burnett Streets, said to retain the Iowa State Center’s prominence, Hilton needs to be competitive.

“Sixteen thousand is the magic number when bidding for big events to come to our community,” he said.

Mark North, Iowa State Center executive director, outlined the renovations planned for Hilton. The building would be renovated to comply with fire code and Americans with Disabilities Act regulations, North said. In the process, officials would like to add 84 seats to the arena circle, 807 seats to the parquet and 574 to the balcony.

Also, men’s and women’s restrooms will be added and improved in various areas within the building, with about 68 new facilities for women and about 45 for men, North said. He said Iowa State Center relies on concerts to help pay for maintenance and keep costs low, and without the expansion, that source of income will be in jeopardy.

“The established, large-name acts have decided they don’t want to do the 150, 180-date tours anymore,” North said.

Baulder said the average concert brings $300,000 to the local community.

“This is very big business and very good for our economy,” she said.

Rich Harter, ACVB executive director, said a 7 percent hotel/motel tax is very common throughout Iowa.

“We’ll be setting no precedent,” he said. “This will not impact negatively our competitive stance in Iowa.”

However, some students are encouraging people to vote “no” in the elections.

Stacy Walshire, president of ISU Democrats, and Steve Erickson, chairman of the Campus Republicans, have joined forces against the issue.

Walshire, junior in political science and speech communication, said the new seats will not benefit students.

“Most of those seats are going to go to the rich donors of the school,” she said. “They are taxing our families and the friends who come to see us.”

Vice President for Business and Finance Murray Blackwelder said many donors currently do not have special seats but will receive them after the expansion.

“At Iowa State University, we have people that want to give money for athletics … and they get some priority seating,” he said. “When these seats are built, these people will move into those seats.”

However, Government of the Student Body President Matt Craft and Blackwelder have been working to set aside some arena circle and parquet seats for students at men’s and women’s basketball games.

Walshire said the 186 lower-level seats the university plans to set aside for students at men’s basketball games and the 300 reserved for students at women’s games are not enough.

“We should get more seats for us,” she said.

Walshire said she and Erickson will actively encourage students to vote “no.” Baulder said if voters do not pass the tax, most of the improvements will be made, but seats will not be added.

“If you start to separate seats and upgrades, you’re missing the big picture for this community,” said Ames Mayor Ted Tedesco.

The seats are an important part of making the renovations because the community gets involved and will benefit from the construction, he said.

“The tax may not pass if it were any one of the specific projects,” he said.

If the tax increase is passed, Tedesco said all 2 percent will go toward the project for five years.