The Pine Bluff Civic Auditorium Complex Commission will review applicants who applied to be executive director of the Pine Bluff Convention Center. Commissioners Ethel Cogshell, Gary Wilson, La’Tasha Woods, Lisa Kosmitis, Monique Benford and Tyra Johnson took part in a meeting Tuesday. They oversee the Pine Bluff Convention Center.
Convention Center Interim Executive Director Sheri Storie is not taking part in discussions on the search for a new director. She has recused herself when commissioners discuss this search. Storie assumed this position after then-director Bob Purvis retired earlier this year.
The director will manage the convention center and the advertising and promotion commission fund for promoting the city. He or she will oversee a staff of 16, supervise marketing and sales operations of the convention and visitors bureau, make sales presentations to customer groups, work with the state legislature and represent the city on regional and state boards and commissions.
Commissioner LaTasha Woods said there are at least 25 candidates who applied to be executive director but that the commission has not eliminated anyone. The commissioners will choose three finalists at a meeting scheduled for noon on Tuesday, Oct. 3. The commissioners will discuss the 25 candidates and narrow it down to three finalists.
“We have not determined a compensation package,” Woods said. “We will revisit Bob Purvis’ compensation package. We want to be fair and give them enough to get their best work and be successful in this process. We will revisit that during the October 3 meeting. We are trying to hurry up and hire someone.”
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
In Pine Bluff Convention Center upgrade news, the building contains asbestos in adhesive under the tiles. he asbestos is not airborne, and only becomes dangerous when it is removed, Marty Huddleston, deputy director of the convention center, said. Convention Center workers had already been looking to replace the banquet hall’s tile floor, which was installed 39 years ago.
Huddleston said several vendors told him the tiles were manufactured for a 25-year life span. Asbestos is a toxic material that was frequently used in previous decades as an insulator in building materials, but has since been found to cause cancer and other diseases.
In addition to replacing the tile, officials must hire a firm to safely remove and dispose of the asbestos. Storie estimated the asbestos removal would cost $20,000 and the tile replacement would cost $30,000. Storie said the abatement of the tile floors will begin Wednesday, Sept. 27, and should be completed within five to seven days. A tile company will then lay tiles. The floor will be finished in time for Friday, Oct. 13, Storie said. The Convention Center is going to host the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff Alumni Banquet Homecoming on that date, she said.
Commissioner Wil Jenkins was absent.