Baltimore Area Convention & Visitors Association

The Baltimore Area Convention & Visitors Association (BACVA) is a quasi-public organization started in 1980 by then-Baltimore Mayor William Donald Schaefer. BACVA is charged with bringing in tourists and conventions into the city of Baltimore and also managing and operating the Baltimore Convention Center. BACVA and its former C.E.O. Carroll R. Armstrong has recently come under fire since a Baltimore Sun article was published in the Summer of 2002 stated that the Baltimore Convention Center didn't meet projected expectations. An external review was completed in early-2003 of the organization's operations. The review showed that BACVA altered various numbers and fudged most of their results. As a result, then-C.E.O./president of BACVA, Carroll R. Armstrong was ousted from BACVA and a interim C.E.O/president was hired.

Related Topics:
William Donald Schaefer - Baltimore Convention Center - Carroll R. Armstrong

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On July 17, 2003, a permanent C.E.O/president for BACVA was hired, Leslie R. Doggett, an former senior tourism official in the Clinton Administration. She promised to totally overhaul BACVA and try to bring more tourists and conventions into the city in a press conference on October 1, 2003.

Related Topics:
July 17 - 2003 - Leslie R. Doggett - October 1

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In 2004 BACVA launched a totally redesigned website. An major event for BACVA in 2004 occurred in May when they officially opened a totally new Baltimore Visitors Center which was radically different from the old visitors center which was inside an antiquated modified construction trailer. The new Baltimore Visitors Center is 8,000 square feet (740 m²) and is located next to the Light Street Pavilion of Harborplace and has a unique design.

Related Topics:
2004 - Baltimore Visitors Center - Harborplace

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In 2005, BACVA is making a joint effort with the Baltimore Development Corporation to pitch a controversial $305 million, 752 room Hilton Hotel to the Baltimore City Council in an attempt to bring in more conventions to the Baltimore Convention Center.

Related Topics:
2005 - Baltimore Development Corporation - $305 million, 752 room Hilton Hotel - Baltimore Convention Center

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