Cleveland Convention Center

[netagurion]

River Location Option

Cleveland Mall West Allignment Option

Cleveland Mall Lakefront Option

So there are the plans and whatnot for the new convention center... What a pain in the A! Well here is my little rant...

The River Location: Anyone who has ever been to tower city knows that it is physically speaking a very cramped location situated on a cliff on the east bank of the Cuyahoga River and towpath. There is already Tower City Center, Tower City Ampitheater, Sherwin Williams Paint, The Cleveland Courthouse Building, and many other things. The proposal will furhter add a convention center jammed in there overhanging the river and towpath. CRAZY!

The Mall West Allignment: Who wants to visit a city and go to a convention center and go underground? No Views, no real significant Architecture... Its Crap.

The Mall Lakefront Option: There we go... Some views and incorporating a little bit of the Cleveland Lakefront Plan... still underground, still crappy.

So what in the world is going on here? I have no idea but when I go to conventions in other cities I am sure as hell not in the friggin Bat Cave. Also, I am not in a building that was welded on to an existing structure, hanging off of a cliff covering things of historic significance, i.e. the cuyahoga river towpath.

I need to move, the cost of living is just too good here although this place is cold and crazy and people almost never use their heads and planning is done by Architects I cant afford to go anywhere else now. I'm stuck with this crap. God.

[PghUSA]

Net,

I didn't know Cleveland was trying for a new convention center, looks like any of those proposals would be nice except of course for the "underground" one. I know that the convention business has tightened up tons since almost every city now has deluxe digs. Best of luck on that.

[streetcreed]

Net,

I didn't know Cleveland was trying for a new convention center, looks like any of those proposals would be nice except of course for the "underground" one. I know that the convention business has tightened up tons since almost every city now has deluxe digs. Best of luck on that.

Especially because Columbus just two hours south has some of the nicest and largest convention facilities.

The city has had a good convention industry, drawing national conventions, but especially being able to get state and regional conventions that want a location in the "middle" of the state or region.

[PghUSA]

Ohio is becoming a bit more fractured with two historically large industrial metros on the extreme ends of it but with Columbus bringing tons of "sunbelt" industry and a central location for the largest state and state dependent industries. Even Pittsburgh is losing some (concerts, events, companies) to Columbus' growth. Cleveland and Cincy are doing lots of great things but it is tough to beat the central location Columbus offers plus the recent critical mass they have built up in the last 20 years.

[roscoe97]

The IX is huge, but it is 10 miles away from downtown and a larger concentration of Hotels, plus there are plans to demolish it in 8-9 years for airport runway expansion.

[lebronstheman]

Why did Cleveland build their convention centre near the airport in the first place?

Actually, it wasn't planned. Cleveland came into ownership of a huge warehouse/plant built during WWII to build tanks, adjacent to Hopkins airport, but was vacant for years, so officials converted it: 1st to an indoor carnival/amusment park, then a surplus conv center -- it was never intended to replace downtown's, but given it's huge space and location next to the airport (plus problems w/ the Mall location, given its age and inability to handle big shows anymore), the Tank Plant was renamed the IX center and began taking in large shows. Of course, although the airport was convenient, it hurt downtown, as many conventioners came, stayed at or near the airport and left w/o going into town -- a reason why many, like me, despise the IX and can't wait to see it torn down...

... currently, Chicago's Merchandise Mart has proposed putting a Medical Mart, w/ about 300K sq ft adjacent to Tower City which would be expanded into a new conv ctr jutting out towards the Cuyahoga river at the back of the current TC mall.