It sounds as if Springfield is missing out.

“It’s been a few years that we have always talked about having an expansion to our BOS Center,” said Darin Dame, president of the Springfield Hotel and Lodging Association. “We have seen that we have lost some conventions to other cities because our BOS Center — is a a great place but we are starting to have not the right type of space for what we need now.”

One possibility would be for new convention space to replace the county parking lot across Adams Street from the center, with the two connected via a skyway. Sangamon County board action Tuesday got the ball rolling on a feasibility study. The BOS Center could expand via a “tourism improvement district” which would collect money from an increased hotel and motel room tax.