PORT ANGELES — It was promoted as a way to show off Port Angeles, to attract visitors and their dollars.

But the Celebrate Elwha! events last September, which kicked off the start of dam removal on the Elwha River, failed to provide the economic boost some were looking for.

“We were expecting to see a pretty significant jump in our lodging, hotel-motel tax,” Port Angeles City Manager Kent Myers said.

Instead, the city’s lodging tax revenue, a barometer for the local tourism industry, was down when compared with September 2010.

That month, the city received $108,000; last September, it received $81,000.

“We expected it would go up,” Myers said, “because of all the activities during September. It just didn’t happen.”

Celebrate Elwha! recognized the beginning of the demolitions of the Elwha Dam and the Glines Canyon Dam, both of which were built without fish ladders nearly a century ago.

Expecting lots of visitors, the city had spent $14,500 sprucing up downtown. Between 5,000 and 10,000 people were expected to come.

Park spokeswoman Barb Maynes said between 3,000 and 5,000 people attended the events.

Funding for the events was mostly covered by sponsorship and donations.

The park spent money only on the main event at the Elwha Dam, which involved speeches from dignitaries. That cost $45,000, including staff overtime pay, Maynes said.

Myers said he didn’t know why more visitors didn’t come for the event, which included concerts, art displays, scientific speeches and informational tours and displays.

Limited marketing funds may be to blame for a turnout lower than expected.

While business and tourism agencies included the events in their advertising, only Olympic National Park specifically used funds to promote it.

Maynes said it spent nearly all of the $2,500 in marketing funds provided by the Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce.

The marketing was concentrated in the Seattle area.

The Olympic Peninsula Visitor Bureau also didn’t have any additional funds available for advertising, said Executive Director Diane Schostak.

Maynes acknowledged that the park had few funds for marketing but said the event was still seen as a success, mainly due to the widespread media attention it attracted.

“We were very pleased with the amount of media coverage received from all over the country and abroad,” she said.

Myers also said the media coverage was still a boon for the city.

“We certainly got some good national publicity,” he said.

Schostak agreed.

“The news went far beyond our local boundaries,” she said, “and continues to carry the message of not just the Elwha, but the Olympic Peninsula.”

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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.