Countdown in Salt Lake City
Salt Palace CC races against the clock, and uncooperative elements
By Heidi Genoist -- Tradeshow Week, 6/13/2005
This isn't Allyson Jackson's first convention center expansion, but it's the first one she's "losing sleep over," she said.
The SMG general manager of the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City has just one month left before turning over the first phase of a 145,000 square foot expansion to VNU Expositions on July 7 for the setup of Outdoor Retailer Summer Market. Although the show doesn't open until Aug. 11, VNU needs five weeks to erect a sprung structure that will hold 90,000 sq. ft. of exhibits.
The tent will go up on a slab (dubbed "the deck" by those working on the project) comprised of 3¡ä¡Á3¡ä¡Á3¡ä concrete blocks weighing 2 tons each. Because it will eventually become the floor for three new exhibit halls, designers didn't want the tent builders to drill holes into the deck to tether the tent's supports. Instead, the tent, which must sustain a wind load of 70 mph, will be anchored to the individual blocks.
In addition, concrete must be poured for a 90-ft. extension from the existing Hall 4, which, during the first phase of construction, will be used for staging freight and heavy equipment.
That's a lot of concrete. Unfortunately, there's been a lot of rain in Salt Lake City lately ¡ª which slows down the drying process.
"We had plans in place to deal with snow that never came, but the rain has proved to be the real challenge," said Jackson.
Still, she has been reassured by project manager Ken Ament, who has overseen all of Salt Palace's other expansions, and structural engineer Eric Kinkainen, a tent specialist who designed the temporary structures for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. Both say the first phase will be done on time.
Anyway, the team has a contingency plan. Although the deck looks sure to be done, the freight staging area adjacent to Hall 4 could be covered with asphalt if rain prevented pouring concrete. After OR, the asphalt would be removed and concrete poured for the beginning of Phase 2 construction.
Jackson said the SMG team has been meeting weekly with general contracting firm GES Exposition Services and biweekly with VNU.
Meanwhile, the last financial hurdle for the $78 million project has been cleared. After a few months of wrangling, Salt Lake City has agreed to contribute $8 million, the state of Utah $4 million, and Salt Lake County will add $51 million to the $15 million already contributed ¡ª $31 million in bonds, and $20 million self-funded for both the Salt Palace expansion and a new parking lot for the county's Sandy, Utah, facility, South Towne Expo Center.
The Salt Lake Convention & Visitors Bureau is the least worried of anyone involved. Mark White, vice president of convention sales and marketing, said his team has kept one piece of convention business that was considering moving and landed five new shows, thanks to the expansion, which will bring Salt Palace's total exhibit space to 510,000 sq. ft. and add 70,000 sq. ft. of meeting space.
