PADUCAH - To make money, you often have to spend money and Paducah city leaders did a lot of that Tuesday night. The biggest purchase was the Executive Inn. The city voted to pay $1.8 million dollars to buy the hotel. The Convention Center Corporation Board paved the way for the purchase with a special called meeting Tuesday afternoon to transfer the properly to the city. Besides the hotel, city commissioners paved the way for more big ticket items to help attract and keep tourism dollars in our region.

After months of negotiations back and forth, a final decision came down to one moment. "Madam Clerk, can we call the roll?" asked Mayor Bill Paxton. One by one, Paducah City Commissioners unanimously agreed and with that vote, the city of Paducah will buy the Executive Inn from it's mortgage holder, Logan Asset Backed Fund for $1.8 million dollars. In addition to the cost of purchasing the hotel,  the city estimates it will spend another $1.8 million for demolition, liens and other expenses. Mayor Paxton says the city already has plans in place to cover the costs.

"It's going to be involved in the investment fund that the city has with 1/2 percent payroll tax and float a bond to pay out the investment fund," explained Mayor Paxton.

City leaders also agreed to acquire the land the Big E sits on from the Convention Center Corporation. Those were the first of other big decisions city leaders made at Tuesday's commission meeting. They also agreed to purchase 165 acres of land on Sheehan Bridge Road near Exit 11 for a sports park. While the total cost is about $900,000 dollars, city leaders are confident private fundraisers will cover most of that cost. 

"With private funding for purchase the city won't be out a penny," said Commissioner Gerald Watkins. 

That's because city leaders plan to rely on private fund raising within the next year to buy the land and then develop the property with sports fields little by little after that.  The city also plans to purchase a 40,000 square foot air dome pavilion to house vendors for the 2010 AQS Quilt Show and Contest. After the Quilt show, the pavilion could be used for an indoor sporting venue.  The pavilion comes at at a cost of about a little more than $ 800,000 dollars. It may sound like a lot of money, but it's not money the city can't get back.
    

The pavilion's company Arizon Structures says it is willing to buy back the structure in a few years at 80 percent of the purchase cost. In the end, several big decisions that promise to help bring money to our region in the long run.

Meredith Schroeder also announced the AQS Quilt Show will stay in Paducah for the next five years. Mayor Paxton says the City has had plans in place to cover expenses for these agreements. City Manager Jim Zumwalt will discuss those plans in detail at the beginning of next year.