Farmer’s conference center proposal draws support

More than 100 people came out to support the Farmer Holding Company’s proposal to build a conference center at the Capital Mall on Thursday night.

At one point, Kirk Farmer asked those who supported the mall proposal to stand, and nearly everyone in the room stood up and applauded.

Farmer made the case that the downtown location was not financially viable and would require public funding.

However, the Farmer’s mall proposal would use a TIF to garner more than $15 million if the conference center was built there.

The Ehrhardt Group, which is proposing a downtown conference to be built behind the Capitol Plaza Hotel, was not at Thursday’s meeting because of a scheduling conflict.