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ST. LOUIS — The downtown convention center is booked for 28 events in 2024 — fewer than half the number of events scheduled this year — and officials say planners’ uncertainty during the coronavirus pandemic and concerns about the building’s major expansion are playing a role.

That’s the lowest number of events the facility has scheduled in recent years, according to records obtained by the Post-Dispatch.

“It’s an awkward, challenging year,” said Kitty Ratcliffe, president of the ӣ����Ƶ Convention & Visitors Commission, which operates the facility. The trouble in 2024 bookings comes despite expectations for a nationwide recovery for the convention industry, according to the Center for Exhibition Industry Research.

The expected dip has ramifications for downtown. Conventions, trade shows and other events at the America’s Center Convention Complex draw big business for downtown hotels, restaurants and area attractions. They’re especially key given that the downtown central business district has for years experienced declining foot traffic, as businesses move to the suburbs.

Convention center events are booked years in advance. Downtown convention events for 2024 were to be scheduled in 2020. But the pandemic threw into question in-person gatherings, and many organizations opted not to book for 2024, Ratcliffe said. Some of those were rescheduled for 2021 and 2022. And other large conventions rotate host cities every year, so ӣ����Ƶ would have been skipped regardless, officials said.

Ratcliffe, during the CVC’s monthly meeting this week, said questions about the ongoing expansion of the convention center and its construction timeline also turned off some event planners.

“It’s not an excuse,” Ratcliffe said. “There’s just a lot of factors that go into that.”

The more than $200 million expansion, which officials say will be able to attract new business, was delayed due to the pandemic, political squabbling in ӣ����Ƶ and delays by ӣ����Ƶ County to issue its share of the bonds for the project. The delays, along with a rise in construction costs and interest rates, caused the CVC to pause its second phase.

But Ratcliff said the CVC the expansion has also generated return business and interest from new organizations that would have not typically considered the city.

The convention center booked nearly 100 events in 2018 and 2019 — including the ӣ����Ƶ Auto Show, USA Fencing’s national championship and a Garth Brooks concert. But only 24 events were held in 2020 before in-person gatherings were canceled due to the pandemic. Numbers began to rise in 2021, and the facility booked 60 events this year, documents show.

But some high-profile events have thrust the convention center in an uncomfortable light:

In February, a 17-year-old girl who was in town for a volleyball tournament at the convention center was injured while walking downtown with her family. A man awaiting trial on robbery charges sped through a yield sign and hit another car. The crash pinned her between two vehicles, leading to the amputation of both of her legs.

And Dot Foods announced this summer it was moving its annual trade show from ӣ����Ƶ, where it’s been held for the past 20 years. The company initially said the move was due to downtown crime, but later acknowledged that other factors also contributed to its decision.

While convention business may be slowing locally, CVC officials say data on hotel stays, a key indicator for tourism traffic, shows promise and is on the rise.

The ӣ����Ƶ market saw the average occupancy, revenue per room, and the average daily room rate in the month of July surpass last year’s totals — its growth put it in the top four of all U.S. markets, behind only New York City, Washington, D.C., and Seattle, according to data from STR, which provides global hotel data.