A look at some of the new and ongoing convention center projects around the United States.In 1995, the National Rifle Association (NRA) held its annual convention in Phoenix, pretty much maxing out the Phoenix Civic Plaza Convention Center with 24,000 attendees, says Scott Dunn, communications manager for the Greater Phoenix Convention & Visitors Bureau. In May, the NRA returned, bringing 65,000 to the newly expanded convention center. "We just couldn't handle that before," Dunn says. But the NRA is not the biggest event the new Phoenix Convention Center has hosted. In February, the NBA All-Star Game was in town, and the concurrent All-Star Jam Session saw some 100,000 fans use the center over the course of the week.
With a new convention center three times the size of the old one and a new light rail system connecting it to the airport, dining and nightlife districts, and virtually all major sporting and cultural venues, Phoenix is just one American city that has forged ahead with investments in its convention and meeting facilities, regardless of the economy.
Opened in January, the 2.7-million-square-foot Phoenix Convention CenterCivic Plaza has been dropped from the nameopened its doors after a $600 million investment and five years of construction. With nearly 900,000 square feet of meeting and exhibit space, including the largest ballroom in Arizona and an exhibit hallone of 11that is the size of five football fields, it is a game-changer for Phoenix's convention and meetings business, Dunn says. The new facility can handle about 80 percent of the conventions held in the U.S. annually, whereas the old facility was only up to hosting about half.
"The new convention center has had a huge impact," Dunn says. "It is three times the size of the previous facility. That has enabled us to book events we couldn't." With strong bookings in its inaugural year, the center should bring some $400 million in direct spending into the greater Phoenix region in 2009, Dunn says.
The new convention center consists of three main structures: The South building, which is essentially the old convention center, albeit renovated; the West building, which is dedicated exhibition space; and the North building, the newest and largest of the three.
The South building underwent an $18.5 million renovation that saw all exhibit halls, the meeting rooms, the ballroom, and even the restrooms redone, and Wi-Fi extended to all public and rentable spaces.
The West building is the dedicated conference center with a 90-foot-high, sunlit atrium that leads to 157,000 square feet of conference-style meeting and exhibit space.
The four-level North building, the last to be completed, has 635,000 square feet of usable space. It features a street-level, 45,000-square-foot ballroom, 11 exhibit halls, and 56 meeting rooms. Its lower-level exhibit hall can be merged with the West building's to create 312,500 square feet of continuous exhibit space.
But size was not the only issue facing the Phoenix Convention Center, Dunn says. "Downtown Phoenix always had a reputation," he says. "There were not enough restaurants, not enough things to do."
That's also changing, thanks to a pair of unrelated projects: the new 8,000-student Arizona State University campus, which is attracting retail and restaurants, and the city's $1.2 billion METRO Light Rail system, which shared an opening day with the Phoenix Convention Center.
The electric-powered system's 20-mile line has air-conditioned cars that operate 20 hours a day, seven days a week, with 10 minutes between trains, Dunn says. The light rail runs along the city's Central Corridor dining and nightlife district, and even provides access to Tempe, AZ.
The Center of It AllAround the country, other convention centers are expanding, getting spruced up, or just finishing such projects. Here is a sampling:
In New York, the long-delayed renovation and expansion of the Jacob K. Javitz Convention Center was given final approval in July. The $463 million project calls for the addition of 100,000 square feet on the block to the north of the existing center, with 40,000 square feet of new exhibit space, as well as pre-function and registration space. The existing convention center will get some repairs but is not scheduled to close during the project.
A major expansion project underway at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia is set to finish by 2011. The project will increase total exhibit space from 440,000 square feet to 700,000 square feet (541,000 square feet contiguous), bring the number of exhibit halls from four to seven, triple ballroom space to 92,000 square feet, double meeting and banquet space to 246,000 square feet, and increase the number of meeting rooms from 50 to 73. Overall, 650,000 square feet will be added to the center.
The Cobo Center, Detroit's convention center, recently won approval for a $300 million expansion that will likely include extensive modifications and infrastructure upgrades to the existing facility and a 166,000-square-foot addition that will include 70,000 square feet of exhibit space.
In Charlotte, the biggest news about the convention center isn't actually in the Charlotte Convention Center. On May 11, 2010, the new NASCAR Hall of Fame will open across the street from the center. Directly connected by an over-street walkway, the Hall of Fame's 40,000-square-foot Crown ballroom actually belongs to the center. That will replace the existing 35,000-square-foot ballroom, which will be converted into additional meeting rooms after the Crown ballroom opens. After the conversion, the center will have a total of 125,000 square feet of meeting space and 280,000 square feet of exhibit space, in addition to the new ballroom. The center just replaced all of its carpeting, as well.
A little further away, but relevant to the meetings market, is the Charlotte airport expansion project, beginning with the third runway now under construction and set to open in January. Beyond that, $300 million in additional work is planned, including adding an international terminal with up to 25 new gates.
California's Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center completed a four-month, $8 million renovation in March. This included repainting and installing new carpets; replacing 4,000 chairs in the center's meeting rooms; upgrading the Long Beach Arena and Terrace Theater, including redecorating public spaces and installing water- conserving fixtures in the restrooms; replacing the elevators at the Terrace Theater; and installing LED lighting in the center's atrium and theater's lobby.
The Ocean Center Daytona Beach convention center, which reopened in February after a $76 million expansion, now has 164,000 square feet of interior and 100,000 square feet of exterior space available for group use. The facility has a 95,000-square-foot exhibit hall, a 42,000-square-foot arena that seats 9,600, a 12,000-square-foot banquet hall with seating for 850, and 32,000 square feet of meeting rooms including 36 breakout rooms, an executive boardroom, and a VIP suite.
Work on an ongoing expansion project at the Las Vegas Convention Center was postponed earlier this year, with plans to revisit the project in the second quarter of 2010. Some work that was already underway has been completed, including new restrooms in the central hall and underground utility upgrades.
Originally published Sept. 1, 2009For more ideas, tips, and tools for better meetings and events,
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