As a result, the city council is reworking plans and a budget that would trim another $30 million from the cost.
Julie Calvert, convention center spokeswoman, tells GlobeSt.com, "We're hoping to at least add a new 40,000-sf ballroom and make a better, more up-to-date building, so we can be competitive with Columbus, Indianapolis, Baltimore, St. Louis and Minneapolis." Such an addition, she says, "can accommodate 75% of the business we see as a potential market that we are currently unable to accommodate."
The existing center totals about 300,000 sf, which includes 162,000 sf of exhibit space, a 30,000-sf ballroom, and 41 meeting rooms. It was last renovated in 1987, according to Calvert.
"Delta did not completely abandon its plan to buy naming rights," she says. "It has just said 'not now.' We must begin the expansion now, and hope to have it completed by 2005."
The original $405-million plan is "old news, at this time," she adds.
According to Brendan Cull of the city council office, "We initially wanted to take the center all the way across I-75 in an ambitious expansion that would take 10 years. Now, we're stopping at the highway."
A revised building configuration and budget, estimated at between $165 million and $171 million, are expected to be unveiled this month. But no one has yet hinted at how the savings will be achieved.
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