McCormick Place West Breaks Ground
Staff -- Tradeshow Week, 6/7/2004
About 300 civic, industry and community leaders attended the May 24 groundbreaking for the new McCormick Place West Building in Chicago.
The ceremony featured four contract signings — three of them medical groups — bringing the building's new contracts to 14. The new contracts include:
- The American Assn. of Orthodontics Annual Session for 2011, with 22,000 attendees, held in Orlando in 2004;
- The American Dietetic Assn. Annual Meeting & Exhibition for 2008 and 2017, with 10,000 expected at each, held in Anaheim in 2004;
- The American Assn. of Critical-Care Nurses Natl. Teaching Institute & Critical Care Exposition for 2008 and 2011, with 10,000 at each, in Orlando in 2004; and,
- The Geological Society of America Annual Meeting and Exposition for 2008, with 6,000, held in Denver in 2004.
Randy Bauler, AACN corporate relations and exhibits director, said the new facility was designed for medical and health care conventions, which require a lot of meeting space and breakout rooms. Bauler added that the building will allow AACN to have its entire audience in one building, creating a sense of community and keeping participants close to classrooms, exhibits, bookstore and training areas.
Completion of McCormick Place West is expected in late 2007, with occupancy starting in 2008. It will offer 470,000 square feet of exhibition space and 250,000 sq. ft. of meeting space.
