At a dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony on Oct. 18 in Anchorage, Alaska, the Anchorage Convention & Visitors Bureau (ACVB) and the Municipality of Anchorage officially opened their new convention center, the $111 million, 215,000-square-foot Dena'ina Civic and Convention Center.
Following an official ribbon cutting, cultural blessing and plaque dedication, ACVB kicked off an entire weekend of inaugural activities that included the Dena'ina Center's first trade show, a winter travel and recreation show known as the Octane & Oxygen Expo; a street fair outside the facility, along F Street; free movies at the William A. Egan Civic & Convention Center, Anchorage's old 45,000-square-foot convention center; and entertainment, theme and wedding event decor demos, as well as family activities, inside the Dena'ina Center.
"The public opening celebration not only honors the Dena'ina people—the namesake of the facility—but also provides an avenue for people to see different ways the Dena'ina Center can be used," ACVB President and CEO Julie Saupe said in a statement earlier this month, in advance of the celebration.
The Dena'ina Center's first event was a rally for Alaska Governor and U.S. Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin on Sept. 13. Its first large meeting, on the other hand, took place there last week, when the Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN) held its annual convention at the new facility.
"This Dena'ina Center has done more to excite our community and more to stimulate a massive makeover of Anchorage than any other single event in 20 years," Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich said in a statement last month.
Construction on the Dena'ina Center began in April 2006 and was completed last month. According to Saupe, the design—which includes heated sidewalks, a grand lobby with 95-foot ceilings, a 50,000-square-foot exhibit hall, a 25,000-square-foot ballroom, six meeting rooms, an outdoor terrace for up to 900 people and a state-of-the-art executive boardroom—will be a major attraction for Alaska's meeting planners.
"Many convention centers across the country are little more than a big box with meeting rooms inside," she said, "but the Dena'ina Center is filled with light; incorporates large, open, pre-meeting spaces; and showcases the rich and important history of the Athabascan people. Alaskans and visitors who use the Dena'ina Center are going to be impressed with this building—the architecture, unique use of light, functionality of the space, artwork—it's all quite impressive."