From: "FRIENDS OF TRANSIT NEWS" To: "Friends of Transit" Subject: Phoenix Civic Plaza Expansion Date: Friday, September 14, 2001 11:16 PM As you may know, the voter-approved Phoenix-East Valley Light Rail alignment has been designed with the intention of moving people to places they want to go: work, sporting venues, cultural facilities, Sky Harbor International Airport, libraries, shopping centers, etc. One of those many important facilities that will be connected to the Phoenix-East Valley Light Rail system is the Phoenix Civic Plaza Convention Center (Civic Plaza). As you may know, on November 6th, Phoenix voters will go to the polls to decide whether or not to expand the Phoenix Civic Plaza. The Civic Plaza is Arizona's premiere convention destination. Every year, approximately one million people visit the Civic Plaza to attend conventions, trade shows and community events. That is a lot of people, many of whom are likely to use the light rail system to get to and from the their hotel rooms and convention activities. The economic benefits of expanding the Civic Plaza are tremendous for the entire state since it will collect sales taxes from out-of-state visitors and create local jobs. We are told that with the proposed expansion, the number of conventioneers coming to Arizona will increase by 50%, direct convention spending will increase from $300 to $566 Million annually and state tax revenues will increase from $23 to $44 Million each year. If you want to learn more about the Phoenix Civic Plaza Expansion and/or the Friends of Civic Plaza Expansion Campaign, please visit their website at http://www.civicplazaexpansion.org David Schwartz Executive Director Friends of Transit david@friendsoftransit.org http://www.friendsoftransit.org