The City of Natchez will manage the convention center a little longer than planned.

At a recent meeting, the board of aldermen approved delaying the date New Orleans Hotel Consultants would take over management of the convention center.

The company will take over management of the center on Oct. 1, instead of May 1 as previously planned.

The company will manage the center and a hotel currently being built across from the center, meant to compliment the facility.

Company president Warren Reuther Jr. said the delay made sense for the city.

“We spoke to a few people, including (Tourism Director) Walter Tipton, and they felt if we went to October, which is the beginning of the city’s fiscal year, it would be best for all,” Reuther said. “I said, ‘that’s fine with me.’”

The Oct. 1 date is also closer to the hotel’s projected completion date of next spring, Tipton said. It made more sense for the company to start managing both facilities closer to when both would be operating, he said.

“It will open spring of next year, but they have to start looking at staff and training way in advance of opening,” Tipton said.

The delay won’t mean a loss or gain of money for either the city or for the management company, Tipton said.

“We’ve always structured it so that it’s not a big financial boost on either side, nor is there a big change in operation of the facilities,” Tipton said. “The cost saving comes from shared employees.”

One company managing the two facilities means that they will only need half the event coordination staff, for example, he said.

“There will be a lot of shared functions between the hotel and the convention center,” Tipton said.

One of the biggest advantages to having the New Orleans-based company operating the convention center and hotel would be the contacts, Tipton said.

“About 80 percent of conferences we have are from Mississippi associations right now,” he said. “There are a lot of regional meetings and Louisiana and Mississippi prospects we would like to host.”