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KANDU Industries acquires Pontiac Convention Center

JANESVILLE — KANDU Industries has acquired the Pontiac Convention Center in a move that will guarantee future bookings at a Janesville facility that was facing foreclosure.

Gary Bersell, executive director for KANDU, said Wednesday the acquisition of the 19,000-square-foot facility at 2809 Pontiac Drive was finalized Friday.

In August, Johnson Bank filed a foreclosure suit saying Mansur Development, the convention center's owner, did not meet a July deadline to pay off mortgage notes totaling nearly $2.1 million.

The building subsequently was recently for sale at $1.6 million.

KANDU has leased space in the facility to operate a portion of its Best Events catering business. For nearly 18 months, it has had an agreement with Mansur Development to administer and run the center's events.

KANDU's acquisition of the property assures future bookings will take place, Bersell said.

"It's business as usual, and we're very excited about that," Bersell said.

"We've been running the business since a year ago last August, and we're pleased that we will be able to honor all of our commitments."

An auxiliary parking lot the convention center bought to satisfy city codes for crowd capacities was not part of the sale, Bersell said.

Without the auxiliary lot, the convention center's capacity is about 325 people, he said. With it, the allowed capacity could grow to 500 or 600.

Only twice during Best Events' operation of the facility has capacity topped 327, Bersell said.

"We will continue to work the city on the capacity issue," he said.