CLEVELAND — Downtown Cleveland's skyline is dotted these days with a symbol of progress — the construction crane. From the Sherwin-Williams headquarters on Public Square to the first phase of the Progressive Field renovations ahead of the April 8 home opener to the expansion of the Huntington Cleveland Convention Center — 2024 has started with a collection of cranes over Cleveland.
"We're taking what used to be the Medical Mart and converting that into meeting space, converting that into suites," said Convention Center GM Ron King on a tour of the work Tuesday.
Expanding out the western side of the building toward Ontario, they are doubling the size of the ballroom on the first floor and creating a massive outdoor gathering space above.
"The terrace is a 10,000 square foot terrace, probably the largest outdoor terrace in all of Ohio," King said. "From a ballroom, we're going from a 10,000 square foot ballroom to 20,000 square foot ballroom and then adding pods of about 5,000 square feet of meeting space. So all in all, meeting-wise, probably about 60-80,000 square feet."
The old Medical Mart offices are being converted into high-end suites.
"So it's something that no other convention center has, so really high-end food and beverege, soft furniture a place that's really an upscale experience for meeting planners," King said.
Escalators have been installed in the north end of the atrium space facing the malls, a new stairwell in the south. It's a $49 million project, King said, that is already reaping rewards.
"We have several other clients that have booked us to use this space and the rest of the convention center that if we didn't have this new space, they never would have considered Cleveland," he said.
That includes the biggest Convention Center get to date — this August's ASAE Convention. It is a convention of convention planners that Destination Cleveland President & CEO David Gilbert said could be transformational.
"It's as big in many ways as the RNC. It is by far the largest gathering of meeting and convention planners and decision makers in the country," he said. "Somewhere between $200 million and $500 million in new future convention business will be booked as a direct result of those people coming to Cleveland."
Visitors will see not only the new convention space, but an improved ballpark and an evolving skyline as selling points for future business here on the North Coast.
