EXPO’s annual review of new and expanded facilities features eight new facilities and eight expansions opened in 2006. Plus, an additional 57 facilities are currently under construction.
By Kelly Lanigan
Eight new facilities opened in 2006, with a combined 1.46 million square feet of meeting and exhibit space. Another eight facilities completed their expansion projects, opening up another 637,000 square feet of meeting and exhibit space.
Recently opened facilities include three resort complexes: the Kalahari Resorts Convention Center in Sandusky, OH; the Red Rock Casino Resort and Spa in Las Vegas; and Rosen Shingle Creek in Orlando. Each of these resort destinations features at least 95,000 square feet of exhibit and meeting space. With 445,000 square feet of function space, Rosen Shingle Creek is the year’s largest new facility.
In addition to these resort complexes, more new convention centers are building on-site hotels. In fact, four new facilities — the Fredericksburg Expo & Convention Center in Fredericksburg, VA, the John Q. Hammons Center in Rogers, AR, the Renaissance Schaumburg Hotel & Convention Center in Schaumburg, IL, and the Shreveport Convention Center in Shreveport, LA — have on-site hotels currently open or under construction.
Facility expansions that were completed in 2006 run the gamut from significantly large to fairly small. The Duke Energy Center in Cincinnati opened 200,000 square feet of new exhibit space, and the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City opened 145,000 square feet of new exhibit space. However, the new square footage for all other facility expansions averaged just less than 50,000 square feet. Most of the newly constructed space is exhibit space, with more than 400,000 new square feet. Nearly 200,000 square feet of meeting space and 100,000 square feet of ballroom space also opened.
While convention centers are currently under construction in all corners of the United States, as well as Canada and Mexico, most of the construction is centered near warm vacation destinations. Facilities in California, Florida, Nevada and Texas account for 23 of the 57 facilities that have broken ground on construction.
Currently, there are 57 facilities under construction, compared with 41 last year at this time. These new facilities and expansions will add nearly 8 million square feet of exhibit and meeting space to the market by 2010. More projects are on the horizon for Norwich, CT; Wilmington, NC; Outer Banks, NC; La Vista, NE; Lake Placid, NY; and Boise, ID.
