Even before the first David L. Lawrence Convention Center opened in 1981, it was considered too small to lure big-money conventions to town. That's what led Allegheny County officials to build a spectacular, taxpayer-funded, $373 million facility, triple the size of its predecessor, a magnet that would be competitive for about 80 percent of the nation's convention business.

The five-year-old center itself is a marvel, with a breathtaking Rafael Vinoly design that swoops from Penn Avenue toward the Allegheny River. It contains 313,400 square feet of exhibit space -- equivalent to more than five football fields -- and all the latest technology.

But it has yet to fulfill its promise, or even come close.

In an eye-opening report in Sunday's editions, Post-Gazette staff writer Mark Belko laid out the figures that spell trouble. Annual attendance exceeded the old center's total only in its first year of operation. The new center holds fewer events per year than the old one. Even convention attendance, which was supposed to be the bread and butter of the center, has been falling since 2004.

The Sports and Exhibition Authority, which owns the building, and Visit Pittsburgh, the agency responsible for booking major conventions, offer unsatisfactory rebuttals. They contend that attendance and the number of events aren't the true measure of success, and Mark Leahy, the center's general manager, says they're being "selective" in what they book.

In the 1990s, cities including Pittsburgh scrambled to build or expand their centers, which were seen as a vital component in drawing tourists with fat wallets to town. Now there are too many sites chasing the same events. This doesn't seem like a good time to be "selective."

Center operators, though, say the real test is the number of hotel nights booked and the amount spent by visitors. But a nationwide survey gave Pittsburgh a below-average rating on its number of hotel nights, and economic impact estimates can be notoriously unreliable.

If the SEA can ever seal a deal for a convention center hotel next door to the center, that would help. In the meantime, SEA officials argue that more taxpayer support is needed from the Regional Asset District tax to operate the center. We disagree. Instead of seeking RAD dollars, convention center management should be devising a plan for luring a lot more business.