LAS VEGAS -- The expansion of the Las Vegas Convention Center is
60% completed and is on schedule for its late summer debut,
according to officials at the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors
Authority.
The project will add about 320,000 square feet of much- needed
meeting space to accommodate the more than 3.5 million
conventioneers expected in 1998, according to Tom Smith, vice
president of facilities for the LVCVA.
The center's expansion will create two new halls and renovate
two existing halls, adding an additional 279,020 square feet of
exhibit space and 42,381 square feet of meeting space, according to
Smith.
In addition, 13 meeting rooms and a conference room will be
added, he said.
"All the changes to existing halls and the construction of the
new halls was based on client needs and suggestions," Smith said.
"We really knew what we needed to do as we designed the meeting
rooms, exhibit halls, and public spaces."
For example, larger meeting rooms are configured to enable
attendees to interact with speakers and each other.
When the expansion is completed in August, the Las Vegas
Convention Center will have a total of 1.6 million square feet of
meeting space.
"Even as we open up after the expansion, the square footage
still won't be enough," Smith said. "A study we commissioned a few
years back said we should have started this expansion back in
1991."
Those figures are based on the size and scope of the meetings
and convention industry in Las Vegas.
The city hosts some 3,000 conventions yearly, accounting for
$3.4 billion in nongaming economic impact, and the projected room
inventory is 118,623 for 1998, according to the LVCVA.
The LVCVA does not have any specific groups contracted for the
new space but will put scheduled groups in the space when it
becomes available in August.
During the past five years, the LVCVA has had to house a portion
of its mega-shows in pavilions in the convention center parking
lot, he said.
"This expansion will get those people out of the parking lot and
into the center," Smith said. "We had a few shows here lately where
the square footage of the outside pavilions was larger than many
convention centers."
Smith also said the new space is in the process of being wired
for the future. "The industry in general is going real high-tech,"
Smith said. "It's not just the computer shows that need special
attention to technology needs. In this day and age, it's
everyone."