Vegas Board: CC Revamp Is Good to Go

How do you get a whole new convention center without adding any exhibit space? The Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority claims it's about to show the world how.

And, the LVCVA promises, the transformation will happen with minimal disruption to tradeshows.

At its February meeting, the LVCVA board unanimously approved the proposal for a $737 million revamp that LVCVA President and CEO Rossi Ralenkotter said would make the Las Vegas Convention Center "the best convention center in the world."

Although preliminary designs call for the addition of about 250,000 square feet of meeting and general session rooms, the amount of exhibit space at the LVCC will remain basically unchanged at 1.9 million sq. ft. — minus about 50,000 square feet from the back end of South Hall.

Still, if all goes as planned, show managers won't recognize the new center when it's finished in 2010.

Besides new meeting space, the current plan would tack on lobbies, parking, office space, concourses, and police and fire stations. It would improve safety, traffic flow, food service and the usability of the South Hall. It would replace solid walls with windows to let in the Nevada sun and Strip views. And it would upgrade amenities and décor throughout — all meant to transform the functional concrete box into an architectural sensation that can better compete with the likes of Chicago's McCormick Place and Orlando's Orange County Convention Center.

The project is already underway, with work beginning almost as soon as the board's ayes were counted. It is divided into nine sub-projects, with schedules staggered to avoid rendering large areas of the convention center useless for long durations.

Architects are developing schematic designs now. Construction on the Las Vegas Metro Police substation and Clark County Fire Department station is set to begin this spring.

Construction on main areas, like the South Hall, general session space and a north-south connector lobby, will start in the second quarter of 2008, after the usual spate of first-quarter Tradeshow Week 200 shows at the LVCC. In addition to annual shows like Intl. CES, SHOT SHOW (Shooting, Hunting & Outdoor Trade Show), MAGIC Marketplace, and Nightclub & Bar, the venue that quarter will host the massive triennial construction equipment show, CONEXPO-CON/AGG.

The INTL. BUILDERS' SHOW, which rotates between Las Vegas and Orlando, will be on the East Coast that year. The biennial AWFSVegas, for woodworking and furniture equipment, will take place in '07 and '09, bracketing the major renovations.

Some TSW 200 shows inevitably won't be spared, however. Reed Exhibitions' Natl. Hardware Show, held each year in May, will rotate to Orlando in 2007, but return to the LVCC the following year. The quadrennial MINExpo INTL. returns to Las Vegas in September 2008. The Specialty Equipment Market Assn.'s annual SEMA Show normally takes place in November, around the time hammers will really be swinging in South Hall.

Chris Meyer, the LVCVA's senior director of convention center sales, said his sales unit's plan for keeping customers happy relies on three Cs: contact, communication and care. So far, it seems to be working. Meyer said no groups have canceled their contracts or moved out of the building due to the renovation, and bookings for 2008, 2009 and 2010 are actually up.

"They've all said, 'We'll go through this with you; just make sure you give us enough notice. Don't spring anything on us,'" he said.

Meyer hopes to give show organizers 18 months' notice of where construction will be during their shows and what areas of the building will be affected. The LVCVA is designing a portal on its Web site to give customers access to construction information, including design plans and schedules. Focus groups begun during the project's research and planning phase will continue throughout its execution.

The LVCVA invited show manager customers to a presentation on the project's merits before the board's Feb. 14 vote. Representatives from Reed Exhibitions, AWFSVegas, ConvExx, the Specialty Equipment Market Assn. and the World Shoe Assn. — in addition to several service contractors — turned out to support the project.

"To tell you the truth, the convention center could use it," said Angelo Gangone, director of AWFSVegas. "It's an older facility, and I think to compete with the newer ones, (the LVCVA) has to bring everything up to a higher standard."

Gangone and others said Meyer had been straightforward with them about the potential impact of construction, and that they trusted the LVCVA to help them in any way it could.

Still, "I worry about the things that aren't within their control," Gangone said. "It's a major renovation. You never know what can happen during those times."

So, would he consider moving? "Absolutely not. They're great partners. The fact they're investing so much in the infrastructure is a very positive thing for us."