Boise convention center breaks records. Why that success is a problem
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- Boise Centre hosted 278 events and 170,812 attendees in 2025, operating near capacity.
- Consultants recommend expanding to 223,800 sq ft and adding a sports complex.
- Expansion could boost events and raise economic impact to about $180 million by 2031.
The Boise Centre hosted 278 events and more than 170,812 people in 2025. That’s a new record for conventions — and one it may not be able to break at its existing home in downtown Boise.
The convention center’s banner year came as the Greater Boise Auditorium District got the results of a consultant’s report that said what staff appear to already know: that Boise Centre’s calendar, like downtown hotel capacity, is more or less full.
“Boise’s rapid population growth, rising incomes, and strong educational base provide a favorable foundation for cultural and tourism investments,” C.H. Johnson Consulting wrote in the October report.” Yet gaps in the region’s infrastructure limit Boise’s competitiveness.”
Boise Centre is “at or near capacity,” the report continued, and the hub lost 400 events in fiscal 2024 “due to space, date, and hotel limitations.”
“Without expansion, Boise risks losing high-value events to regional and national competitors,” the consultants wrote.
For the center and downtown businesses, that means missing out on money that added traffic might bring. Boise Centre calculated that its events generated $51.2 million in local economic impact last year — also a record. That figure was based on a tool from the tourism interest group Destinations International. The Auditorium District’s fiscal year ended Nov. 30.
“This record year demonstrates the strong demand for what Boise Centre brings to our community,” Kristin Muchow, chair of the Greater Boise Auditorium District Board of Directors, which oversees Boise Centre, said in a press release. “The market and feasibility study we completed last fall confirmed what we’ve been experiencing — we’re operating near capacity and there is significant opportunity for growth.”
Downtown hotels pinch Boise Centre’s potential
Visits were up 12.3% from fiscal 2024, according to Boise Centre spokeswoman Mary-Michael Rodgers.
But a single large convention can take up a huge chunk of downtown hotel rooms. In October, the 2025 Idaho Mining Conference drew 1,250 attendees for two days, generating an estimated $1.1 million for local businesses, Rodgers said. At that time, there were roughly 1,600 total rooms within walking distance of Boise Centre, according to a press release.
That number is slated to rise to 1,900 rooms in 2026. Eagle’s Pennbridge Hospitality aims to open a 296-room Marriott property at 11th and Grove streets this spring. The dual-branded AC and Element by Westin property would be the second-largest hotel in the auditorium district.
“We are excited for the new hotels to open in 2026 as they will help us draw more convention groups to Boise,” Rodgers told the Statesman in an email.
Cash, location hurdles for Boise Centre expansion
More stays also mean more money for the district, which raises most of its money from a 5% tax on hotel rooms. Last year, the district collected $12.1 million from the tax, a 6.1% bump over fiscal 2024 and yet another record. Yet, like most public convention centers highlighted in Johnson’s report, Boise Centre operates at a loss: In fiscal 2024, expenses outpaced revenue by roughly $2.7 million.
Last year, the district invested $2.37 million in Boise Centre to refresh the 35-year-old building with fresh paint, wall coverages, carpet and signage. While maintaining Boise Centre is a “priority,” Executive Director Cody Lund said in the press release, the consultants’ report goes far beyond maintenance.
The consultants recommended expanding Boise Centre’s existing square footage more than 3.5-fold, from 63,773 to 223,800 square feet. As the Statesman reported in October, it also recommended developing a separate 110,000-square-foot indoor sports complex. The expansion would add a 100,000-square-foot exhibit hall for conventions and double the existing ballroom and meeting room space.
The report states that the expanded operation would host 360 annual events within five years, and they’d be considerably larger. The consultant estimates the grand plan could attract more than 320,000 annual guests to downtown by fiscal 2031. At that point, the report forecasts more than $180 million in economic impact.
For now, the path toward that isn’t clear. Johnson Consulting recommends that the main convention space stay downtown, and the sports facility find land on the periphery of the auditorium district, where it would be supported by outlying hotels and restaurants. And while it offers case studies of how other cities expanded their event spaces, the report doesn’t suggest a specific way for Boise to do the same.
“Both of these product opportunities would require funding significantly in excess of [Greater Boise Auditorium District’s] existing cash on hand,” the report stated.
“Boise Centre itself demonstrates the hazard of not setting aside land for future expansion,” the report continued. “Though the facility’s size was adequate when it was built, it has since become dramatically undersized relative to the market’s increased population as well as to its peer facilities and lacks a straightforward path to adding the needed additional function space.”