Can they have an iconic structure too?

After having lost out on a scheme to glom taxpayer subsidized hotels and condos onto its piece of the Tricentennial Consortium WTC redevelopment plan, Convention Center execs are just going to ask the legislature directly.

The mammoth convention center in New Orleans looks to embark on another expansion phase that would include a corporate meeting center, hotel, condos and retail space. The House Ways and Means Committee approved HB 788 by Rep. Walt Leger, D-New Orleans, that would authorize the convention center authority to increase its bonding capacity in order to raise up to $142 million to be used to attract $1 billion in private investment, according to the author. The revenue bonds would be paid back from the authority’s share of the local hotel-motel tax and revenue generated from the commercial development.

Remember, the Convention Center receives 3 of the 13 cents that comprise the hotel/motel tax already.  If they get to run their own hotel, that money stays in-house, I guess.  It's their own little ho-zone of sorts.