Dena'ina Center Opens

Think the biggest story in Alaska is the governor running for vice president? Think again. It's also had the grand opening of the first major convention center in the state's history. Anchorage's 200,000 square foot Dena'ina Civic & Convention Center, with 75,000 sq. ft. of exhibit space and 11,000 sq. ft. of meeting space, opened Sept. 18.

It's probably fitting that the first group last week to go into the brand new center was the Anchorage Convention & Visitors Bureau's monthly membership luncheon, which took tours of the facility afterward.

Julie Saupe, president and CEO of the ACVB, said there were plenty more events on tap. “The biggest show booked so far is the USA/Canada Lions Leadership Forum that will have 3,200 attendees in 2011,” Saupe said.

Before then, the center looks to be busy as soon as the doors open. Sept. 21-25 the first national meeting, the Port Authority Convention, is in the center, followed by the Forum of Young Alaskans Oct. 4; the Alaska Travel Industry Convention Oct. 6-10; the Oxygen & Octane Expo Oct. 17-19; and the Dena'ina Grand Opening Celebration Weekend Oct. 18-19.

Saupe said the center was funded by a 4-percent bed tax increase that brought the total in the area to 12 percent. She added that the bureau would sell the center 12 months out, and SMG, which manages the center, would sell it 12 months in.

So far, a lot of regional and state groups have booked the center, Saupe said. “We're going after national conventions with tradeshow components,” she added, something that couldn't be done with the city's existing facility, the William A. Egan Civic & Convention Center, with approximately half the exhibit space of the Dena'ina.

“We're hoping for steady growth in both bringing new groups in, and also groups that have been using the Egan Center and want to do something more with their meetings and tradeshows,” Saupe said.