Despite denials, Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association officials are exploring plans to replace Carroll R. Armstrong as the head of the city's convention effort.

In a two-hour, closed-door meeting Wednesday, members of a BACVA board committee discussed scenarios that would result in Armstrong leaving the post he has held for nearly seven years as president and chief executive, several sources said.

Of paramount concern, they said, is creating a "soft landing " that would allow Armstrong to step aside with dignity and not embarrass BACVA.

The Sun reported Wednesday that Armstrong would be replaced amid growing dissatisfaction with his performance. It also said that board Chairman Clarence T. Bishop would step in as interim chief. BACVA officials labeled the article as inaccurate.

Declining interview requests, Bishop said in a statement: "Mr. Armstrong has not resigned nor do I as chairman have any reason to believe he is anticipating resigning."

Bishop also said that he was not a candidate to replace Armstrong.

But at Wednesday's review and evaluation committee meeting, members discussed various scenarios, including one in which Armstrong would be offered a sales position and a national search for a chief executive would be held, the sources said. There also was consideration of keeping Armstrong on as a consultant either to BACVA or to the Baltimore Convention Center.

Another possibility discussed was a negotiated agreement under which Armstrong would step down, said one source familiar with the board's activities.

Present at the meeting was a consultant from Performance Management Inc., the Connecticut firm that is nearing completion of a top-to-bottom review of BACVA's operations.

The BACVA board ordered the review after articles in The Sun in June detailed how the $151 million Convention Center expansion has fallen short of projections for attendance and convention bookings.

Advance bookings low

Advance bookings also were low, dipping to only six for 2007, The Sun reported.

Given the recent pressure on Armstrong, some believe that he may be ready for a change.

"I guess when you're just under the microscope for so long, it wears you out," one source said.

The timing of any change in leadership remained unclear, as did how such a move would be presented.

Article was 'accurate'

Calling this week's Sun article "accurate," the source said, "But how a plan is developed to achieve [Armstrong's departure] is presented to the outside world may appear to be very different."

The committee consists of eight members, but additional members of the 17-person full BACVA board also attended the meeting Wednesday, according to Nancy Hinds, a spokeswoman for BACVA.

At that meeting, a BACVA attorney cautioned board members not to talk to reporters or to anyone else about the group's discussions.

In a Nov. 15 notice calling for the meeting, Bishop had indicated that the review would be discussed, saying: "In the course of the review and evaluation, an issue has arisen that requires the steering committee's full and immediate attention to resolve before next week's end."

He also had asked attendees to keep the following day free because the matter could require an additional day.

In explaining the urgent tone of the notice, one source said: "What I think was alarming to the consultants was the consistency of critical feedback across the groups on Carroll's CEO leadership performance."

The timing of the review and evaluation committee meeting may have been, at least in part, a function of Bishop's schedule. He is now out of the country on a family Thanksgiving vacation, Hinds said.

A BACVA official had said that personnel issues could arise during that meeting but that the committee was not empowered to make decisions.

"They can go to the board with a recommendation," Hinds said.

The entire board would have to meet to make any decisions. A meeting of the full board has not been called.

The next regularly scheduled BACVA board meeting is Dec. 16.

Review on track

At Wednesday's meeting, the consultant told board members that his firm's review was 60 percent to 70 percent completed and on track for completion Dec. 9.

"The board was pleased with the progress to date," Hinds said.

Once the evaluation is complete, it will be presented to the board, BACVA staff, its members and shareholders and made public, she said.