Based on the Blair County Convention Center’s latest financial report, the facility is poised for an optimistic future, assuming that nothing horrific like the COVID-19 pandemic derails it.

For the benefit of newcomers to the county, as well as others who might have lost track of the center amid all of the pandemic news in much of 2020, the center’s closure that year thrust it into a tailspin.

Financial disaster was able to be averted because of skilled management, the center board of directors’ insight and competence plus some wise decisions preceding the health emergency.

For those reasons, the Altoona region should feel grateful. The convention center is too valuable of a resource to be subjected to demise.

Now, just about four years since COVID-19 clamped its ugly grip not only here, but throughout the world, the newly delivered financial report offers bases for upbeat convention center projections, moving forward.

However, projections by themselves don’t mean a thing without energy, commitment and hard work to back up those predictions with actual results. This facility has provided ample evidence that it is up to the challenge.

The convention center was not expected to produce vastly improved financial and booking numbers immediately upon its reopening. A period of uncertainty was a logical outcome.

The business of having a convention center and filling its available facilities is a complex enterprise that is a years-long “assembly” process, even in the best of times, because of the vigorous competition that exists for the dollars in question.

The people in charge of such a facility must be able to convince people from myriad locations that there are not just good — but excellent — reasons for booking a convention or other event.

So far, those who have guided the local center have been skilled in delivering such a successful message, but there never can be enough effort put forth on behalf of that objective.

The latest financial report confirms that most things are being done correctly, and that can be viewed as a springboard into an increasingly upbeat future.

According to a Jan. 20-21 Mirror article that dealt with the convention center’s rebound from COVID’s tragic assault, the center’s ability to build financial reserves pre-pandemic enabled it to survive 2020 bills adding up to $1.26 million, when incoming revenue dropped to just $596,901.

Efforts to rebuild business following the pandemic resulted in commendable 2023 incoming revenue totaling $2.137 million, just slightly less than 2019 revenue, which totaled

$2.218 million. Projected revenue for 2024 is $2.216, almost the same as 2019.

Tom Schilling, convention center president and executive chef, indicated that the 2024 projection is based on already scheduled events, and that the actual figure could be higher, depending on business that might be booked during the year for available dates.

One already scheduled event that could attract a huge turnout, especially by non-traditional convention attendees, is Momento Con, a convention for science fiction enthusiasts, which was held last year at Pittsburgh’s David L. Lawrence Convention Center.

What ultimately is important for the convention center was expressed by authority member Donna Gority during a meeting on Jan. 17.

“We’re back,” she said, in response to the latest incoming-revenue numbers, and the convention center is determined to stay.