The city of Shenandoah will submit proposed special legislation that would allow it to build a special events center if the bill is approved when the 85th state legislative session convenes in January.

If constructed, the special events center would be an estimated $20 million-$40 million facility funded by hotel occupancy tax collections, located on the east side of I-45 in Shenandoah. The facility would be able to accommodate large-scale events, such as conferences, sporting events and graduations.

“There’s a huge need for a facility like this because we really don’t have this type of event center anywhere in south Montgomery County,” Shenandoah Mayor Ritch Wheeler said. “It won’t just benefit Shenandoah either; it will benefit the entire south Montgomery County community because it would draw in a lot of outside tourism to our area from all over the country.”

Special legislation for the center is needed because the City Council wants to fund the facility in its entirety using hotel/motel tax revenue. However, council members want the center to also have sports facilities, which conflicts with state law.

“The majority of the facility can be funded under hotel/motel tax today,” City Administrator Greg Smith said. “The part that cannot be funded by hotel/motel tax right now is the sports aspect, and that’s what we are trying to get the special legislation to allow.”

Still in the early stages, the council formed a Special Events Center Committee in September made up of council members, residents, local business owners and hotel managers. The committee will be responsible for looking at the feasibility, timeline and design of the project.

Smith said the council should be notified whether the special legislation has been passed when the session concludes in May.

“We’ve already met with our state senator and representative, and they have the legislation, so we are already working through our elected officials to get it ready to be filed,” Smith said. “Every aspect of the legislation that we are requesting has already previously been passed. So we’re not asking for anything new, we are just trying to make it available for Shenandoah. I’m pretty optimistic that the Legislature will approve it.”

If passed in the legislative session, Smith said he expects the city will have a plan for the special events center by 2019.