Big 4: No clear timetable for Cobo expansion

Expansion of Detroit's Cobo Center may come later rather than sooner, two of the metro area's Big 4 leaders told the crowd at a Detroit Economic Club luncheon meeting today.

The Big 4 -- Detroit Mayor Dave Bing, Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano, Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson and Paul Gieleghem, chairman of the Macomb County Commission -- took questions from the Econ Club crowd at Cobo, on the floor of the North American International Auto Show.

Cobo was transferred to a regional authority created last year by a state law that extended a regional hotel and liquor tax to fund an expansion.

It was appropriate, Patterson said, to use the first $3 million allocated by the state Legislature for "quick fix" repairs like patching the convention center's leaky roof and upgrading its electrical system.

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