MidWest
Detroit's Cobo Center Unveils Three-Year, $221 Million Expansion Plan
March 15, 2011
In order to reestablish Detroit as a leading destination for meetings and conventions, the Detroit Regional Convention Facility Authority (DRCFA) has created a three-year, $221 million plan for renovating and expanding Detroit's convention center, the Cobo Conference & Exhibition Center, it announced this month.
The plan — the purpose of which is "restoring Cobo Center's competitiveness in the national meeting and convention landscape, revitalizing Cobo Center with an updated image and improving Cobo Center's financial viability through increased revenue opportunities and decreased costs" — calls for:
• Turning the existing Cobo Arena into a 40,000-square-foot ballroom with an open-air terrace;
• Creating a new "signature space" in the form of a three-story glass atrium, which will link the venue's main floor with a new entrance facing the Detroit River;
• Renovating the building's primary façade, turning it into a high-tech "media mesh" that will function as a giant digital signboard; and
• Reconfiguring most of the building's meeting and breakout space along the facility's south side, where new meeting rooms will showcase views of the Detroit River.
Other planned upgrades include new communication systems, parking enhancements, upgraded interiors and the installation of energy-saving environmental systems.
"We are making the changes to Cobo Center that our customers, stakeholders and competitive research have told us are necessary to return Cobo to an industry-leading status that will assist in attracting meetings and conventions to Metro Detroit," said DRCFA Chairman Larry Alexander. "We are not satisfied with 'good enough.' This plan leapfrogs Cobo Center over competitive convention centers and gives Metro Detroit a cornerstone facility worthy of our region's proven ability to host world-class events."
Work will begin immediately on Cobo Center's expansion and renovations, with completion scheduled for December 2014.
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