Glass City Center operators asked Lucas County for roughly $400,000 more — a 44 percent increase — at Tuesday’s budget hearing, even as county commissioners plan 13 percent cuts across departments. The downtown venue is managed by Legends Global.

Legends Global Regional General Manager Steve Miller asked for nearly $400,000 to complete capital projects at the Glass City Center, The Blade reports. Together, the company is seeking $2.19 million for operations and capital improvements across the two county-owned venues it runs — the Glass City Center and the Huntington Center.

Miller told commissioners the 18-year-old Huntington Center “is beginning to show its age and needs repairs.” To balance the proposal, the company would defer about $2.5 million in elevator and escalator work, including replacing an elevator at the Huntington Center.

The clash comes as commissioners seek 13 percent budget cuts across the board to close a $27 million shortfall — meaning every county department is being asked to do with less while the convention center and arena ask for more. For Lucas County taxpayers, the question is whether the downtown venues’ repair list justifies a bigger county subsidy in a year of belt-tightening.

Glass City Center exterior, August 2022 (Wikimedia Commons).