By Carrie Rengers
Wichita Eagle
Posted on Thu, May. 17, 2007
How the city lost bowling tournament
Speculation -- and frustration -- is running high in business circles and among those in city and county government:
What really happened to cause Wichita to lose the United States Bowling Congress Open Championships for 2011 and a potential $100 million economic impact?
Three contractual issues caused a breakdown in negotiations.
"Some lawyer on city staff couldn't see past his policy book," says Mark Jensen, a Wichitan who served on the American Bowling Congress board from 1992 to 2005. (The ABC was a predecessor of the USBC.)
"The minor sticking points are so insignificant in their scope, but the consequences are so devastating that it's hard to believe that we've lost that event," Jensen says.
Mayor Carl Brewer says he and City Council members are equally stunned.
"I ended up finding out Friday evening, and at that point in time, we were told that there were some concerns, but they were still working on it," Brewer says. "I said, 'Go back and tell them... I'd be happy to fly there myself.' "
He and Vice Mayor Sharon Fearey quickly drafted a letter moments before they attended the Wichita River Festival parade.
On Monday, a convention bureau official told Brewer USBC officials wouldn't meet with him or talk with him but said the city's attorney could call the USBC's attorney.
"We still aren't exactly sure why they made the decision... or wouldn't even accept a phone call from me," Brewer says. "The Council should have been allowed to at least talk about it."
USBC attorney Thor Lundgren says three things caused negotiations to end:
• The city's unwillingness to choose either itself or the Greater Wichita Convention and Visitors Bureau as the sole entity listed on the contract. The USBC "desires one party to be responsible for all contractual arrangements," Lundgren says.
• The city's inability -- due to state law -- to make monetary assurances that the condition of Century II would be the same or better for the tournament as it is now.
• The city's refusal to use arbitration as the sole means of settling any disputes.
The issues "should not have been deal-breakers," says Tom Docking, the bureau's counsel.
He says more negotiations could have avoided this.
"But they cut it off," Docking says of the USBC. "The city should have been afforded a better opportunity."
Lundgren says there were plenty of opportunities.
"There shouldn't be any surprises here," he says. "These negotiations went on for months."
City and bureau officials say that's true, but "the end of the negotiation was sudden and surprising," says city spokesman Van Williams.
"As long as both sides are negotiating and at the table, there's always options -- in theory and in the real world," he says.
Jensen says that's unacceptable for a contract bid that the city won in 2004.
"We have really backed USBC into a corner," he says. "They can not wait another two or three years for us to get off our backside and get this thing done."
Jensen says a USBC board member called him last fall to ask what the holdup was.
"He asked me point blank: 'What's the matter with your contracts? We are waiting.'
"That's when I called the (bureau) and... was told everything was fine," Jensen says. "Everything is not fine."
The city's loss of the event has given rise to several theories, such as the city wants to sell Century II or turn that space into a casino, and that's why it couldn't make a guarantee about its condition.
Brewer says that's "absolutely crazy."
"There's no way the city would be interested in selling Century II," he says.
Some wonder if the building's current condition might have led the USBC to back out -- meaning other facilities elsewhere are better. Further, they wonder if the organization got a better deal for 2011.
"They don't have another place," Lundgren says. "They've put themselves in a bit of a position."
He says the real issue is that every time USBC officials asked the city to be flexible, they heard: "We can't."
Jensen says too many people worked for too many years to make this event happen.
"To lose it this way is unforgivable," he says.
Brewer refuses to accept that it's a totally lost opportunity.
"We are not going to give up," he says. "If their board would just give us the opportunity -- myself and Council members and our team -- to sit down and visit with them, I think we can change their mind."
