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Rio Nuevo has changed course again. The City Council voted 6-0 Wednesday to redirect money from its recent bond sale to projects "like" revamping the Tucson Convention Center and a new convention hotel.

About $58 million from the December bond sale had been designated for museums and historic re-creation on the west side of the Santa Cruz River and on Downtown infrastructure.

But the council now wants more of the money to go to projects that will help generate sales taxes that will add future revenue to the Rio Nuevo tax- increment financing district.

About $10 million of the $58 million is already designated for the TCC and hotel projects. Another $9 million is owed to the state for a freeway-underpass-widening project.

Details of what projects will get more money, or lose funding — or even when the city will have the new plan ready — were not available, other than the money should go toward infrastructure and revenue- and job-generating projects.

City Manager Mike Hein said the city staff will come back with a plan "as soon as possible," but he also said he didn't want to be locked into a timeline.

He said the projects that will now be funded with the bond proceeds or other Rio Nuevo sales taxes are also unknown at this point, although he said the council was clear that money should flow to the TCC and a new hotel.

But even the $58 million in bond money isn't enough to complete the hotel, and likely couldn't fund the completed upgrades of the TCC as well.

Rio Nuevo Director Greg Shelko said that the city is in the first phase of pre-construction for the hotel and that construction could start in March 2010. Construction on a new entrance to the TCC needed to accommodate the hotel could be under way earlier, he said.

One reason for the council focus on the hotel and convention center was talk of the main gem show from the Tucson Gem, Mineral & Fossil Showcase leaving town.

Mayor Bob Walkup said the council would do "everything it takes to be sure we keep the Gem and Mineral Show."

Councilwoman Nina Trasoff said the plans for the hotel call for its window glass to change colors during different times of the day so the windows will look like different gems and minerals.

The council made no mention of state legislative threats to take the money away.

The council also criticized a Sunday Arizona Daily Star story that estimated it will cost taxpayers $10 million more in interest because the city went to the bond market in December, when interest rates were highly volatile and other communities were postponing bond sales.

Shawn Dralle, the city's bond adviser, said the markets were so chaotic toward the end of 2008 that no one could predict future interest rates. To look back in hindsight at the sale eight weeks later is "disingenuous," Dralle said.

Star Managing Editor Therese Hayt said the newspaper stands by its story. "They went into the market when it was sky-high. Taxpayers are now on the hook for all that interest, which is not in the taxpayers' interest," she said.

In other business, the council:

• Approved the sale of 50,000 acre-feet of Central Arizona Project water for this fiscal year. Much of the water is being sold to a Phoenix-area water bank, but 8,000 acre-feet will be sold in some form to water operators in Pima County.

• Tentatively approved a measure to ease parking restrictions for the re-use of older buildings as a way to jump-start their redevelopment. The city will consider final adoption of the measure after March 4.

On StarNet: Check out a searchable database of where the Rio Nuevo money went at azstarnet.com/special/rionuevosummary