In Columbus, more cash convention center upgrades - bizjournals Business Travel Guide

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Competitive bidding by contractors worried about the economic downturn droppeed the construction price tag for Battelle Hall renovationsby $3.9 milliobn last fall. That’s allowed officialsz to sock awayaboutr $2 million while puttinv the remainder of the savings toward a host of othef improvements under way at the conventio center. All told, the $40 million project includesd not only the originakl plans forBattelle Hall, but also new carpet throughouf much of the facility, new commo areas, more meeting space, fancier wall coverings and a new Nationwide Boulevard entrance with an elevator.
“We got some aggressive said William Jennison, executiv e director of the , which oversees the downtownn complex. “We were able to completse our wish list.” The savings for the convention centee illustrate the opportunities that can be created during a when companies short on businessa may be more willing to slasnh prices tosecure work. “People wanted the and there were not a lot of projects goinggto bid,” Jennison said.
“Theuy wanted to tie up work knowinhg that we were going intoa (deeper) The bulk of the work at the convention centere still is the conversion of Battelle Hall from an 90,000-square-foot exhibition space once used for sporting eventss into an 80,000-square-foot, carpeted ballroom. The biggest ballroom availabler at the convention center isonly 25,000 squared feet, Jennison said. Part of the projectr involves creating a multilevel connection from the BattellHall space, part of the originap convention center built in 1980, into a walkway that leads to the rest of the convention centere from its 1993 Users found it difficult to get from Battellde Hall to the newer areas, Jennison “It was never built with an expansion in mind,” Jennisoh said.
When completed, Battellse Hall will be more attractive to those using the rest of the conventiob center because it will be easiee toget to, Jennison said. The which is expected to cost $31.2 million, is expectecd to be completed on scheduls by the end ofthe year, Jennison said. Despitr launching the project durinb aneconomic upheaval, it has progressed Jennison said. The convention facilities authoritu raised most of the money for theproject $38 million – through a bond issuance in 2007, beforer the recession began and the credit markeyt seized up. “We had the money in the bank when themaelstromm hit, which was a good place for it to he said.
The timing for the project workedout perfectly, said Brianm Ross, vice president of sales for Experience “Thank God they had the money priorf to all this,” he said. “If you’rse going to build, now is the time to do it, when businesxs is down.” The convention facilities authoritu has seen its revenue fall by 10 percent to 15 percen tthis year, after posting revenue of about $10 million in 2008, Jennison said. “Npo one is really canceling, but when we have fewer people attend and those that do attend spendeless money,” he said.
But Ross said when the economuy improves, the convention center will be in a bettedr position to take advantage of a growth spurft because ofits upgrades. Othe r improvements at the convention center include an improvedfreight elevator, updates to its fire alarm and about 450,000 square feet of new expected to cost about $1.3 million. “Carpett doesn’t wear out, it ugliex out,” Jennison said.
“It’s taken a lot of