The Huntsville Hotel Occupancy Tax board has been tasked with recommending a committee to find out how much money should be spent and the scope of a feasibility study of a indoor arena/expo center.

The City Council uanimously approved the measure during its regular session Thursday night at City Hall.

Once the HOT board selects committee members to conduct the study, the names will be submitted to Mayor J. Turner and the City Council for approval.

The feasibility study was one of several items on the council’s lengthy agenda.

Mayor Pro Tem Lanny Ray, who is a member of the HOT board, introduced the idea to the HOT board at its October meeting and the board recommended that it be presented to the City Council for a possible feasibility study.

Ray said he agreed with council members Charles Forbus and Mac Woodward that the HOT board recommend the committee to study the parameters of the feasibility study.

Forbus chairs the HOT board.

“The HOT board has already been talking about this we we have been getting a wonderful amount of input from residents, a wonderful amount of ideas and folks with some expertise have actually approached us,” Ray said.

“I think we have a pretty good focus on that,” he said. “The HOT board has the time to deal with this type of issue.”

Ray said he brought up the idea of the indoor arena/expo center, but “I can’t claim credit for it. I don’t remember when, but over the past few months we started looking at what we could do with the HOT money.”

“A couple of residents came up and said have you looked at Glen Rose, McGregor, Crockett and smaller towns who have taken the motel money and invested it in indoor-covered arena facility to sponsor rodeos. We’re talking large steel buildings.

“We’ re talking about a convenyion facility that would not compete with the Veterans Conference Center. This would be a big steel building a lot like the Lone Star building in Conroe.”

Ray said parking is limited at the Walker County Fairgrounds and “you cannot sell alcoholic beverages. Like it or not, that is a big issue when you’re bringing in concerts and rodeos and things of that nature.”

Ray said the idea is not to jump in and build a facility, but “to commission a feasibility study. My thought on this would be mid- to long-term on this study.

“We’re not looking for an answer in the next 30 days, or 90 days or perhaps not even 180 days.”

Ray said committee members can be from any number of groups and individuals — “anybody with experience in this area.”

He said a study is needed to “see if we can do it because we do have substantial amount of HOT money we could use to finance this and also to operate it since it would be a convention center.”

The city receives an estimated $500,000 a year in Hotel Occupancy Tax funds.

Ray said grant money could also be obtained to help fund the project.

Ray said the tax code outlining use of HOT funds includes funding a convention center.

“We are not trying to build a facility that would compete with the Marriott on the Riverwalk in San Antonio,” he said. “That is a fool’s errand.”

Ray said a facility here would target gun shows, boat shows, auto shows, home shows and rodeos.

“The HOT board went so far as to perhaps suggest bringing the prison rodeo back,” he said. “Right now we don’t have that ability. But if it’s too expensive or won’’t work, it was just an idea we proposed. I think we owe it to the folks to pursue the idea and see what comes of it.”