Wilmington Convention Center

A nautical convention┬áOn a nine-acre site overlooking the beautiful Cape Fear River in downtown Wilmington, North Carolina, the long-awaited Wilmington Convention Center is at last taking shape. Project manager Steve Bridges talks to Gay Sutton about building a new regional facility on a historic brownfield site. Situated between North CarolinaÔÇÖs Atlantic coast and the Cape Fear River, Wilmington is a historic port and railroad city with a thriving business and leisure community.  The construction of a convention center had been on the city councilÔÇÖs agenda for a number of years. Not only would it provide a much needed regional facilityÔÇöcurrently, events of any size have to be staged over the border in South CarolinaÔÇöbut it would also attract increasing numbers of visitors to the area. Funding for the project, however, had always been an issue. But the turning point came when new laws were passed that enabled the city to levy a three percent tax on hotel room occupancy to finance the project.ÔÇ£We strongly believe that this tax will generate enough money to both build the facility and operate it,ÔÇØ says project manager Steve Bridges. ÔÇ£So once the law was authorized, we went to work real hard and fast to raise the $59 million required for construction costs through the sale of bonds.ÔÇØ The city council appointed a committee of interested townspeople to help provide guidance on the project and made the decision to build the center on a nine-acre riverside plot just a few blocks from the historic downtown area. Architecture firm LS3P Associates then came up with a design for the convention center that would complement the buildingÔÇÖs prime river location and the shipbuilding and railroad heritage of the city. ÔÇ£The design will enable visitors to see the spectacular views,ÔÇØ Bridges says, ÔÇ£not only of the river but also of a proposed marina that we hope will be built to the north of us. There will also be elements that reflect the old nautical character of Wilmington.ÔÇØ At the heart of the building lie two extensive rooms: a splendid 12,000-square-foot ballroom suitable for banquets and meetings, which will be equipped with state-of-the-art audio-visual and sound equipment; and a 30,000-square-foot drive on exhibit hall, which will have all the necessary floor plug-ins such as data and electrical wiring and water, plus built-in concessions, high-quality sound equipment, 30-foot ceilings, multiple access points and views northward to the proposed marina. The ballroom will be able to seat up to 1,000 people at any one time, but providing catering for such a number is not easy. Thus, considerable effort has gone into designing a state-of-the-art kitchen and serving facility that will be able to cope with the pressure. Completing the indoor facilities are three 1,150-square-foot meeting rooms that are capable of being subdivided, a smaller 550-square-foot meeting room, and an adjacent 581 space parking deck.Wrapping around the building from the exhibit hall on the north to the ballroom overlooking the river on the west will be an attractive pre-function area of roughly 12,000 square feet that will provide all the necessary event and venue information and will be equipped with tables and chairs so that visitors can gather and enjoy the superb river views. Immediately outside of the pre-function area will be a covered canopy with tables and chairs that will provide spectacular river and riverwalk views.ÔÇ£One of the things the mayorÔÇÖs taskforce insisted onÔÇöand I think itÔÇÖs a great idea,ÔÇØ Bridges continues, ÔÇ£is an outdoor event lawn. So weÔÇÖve allowed for a 12,000-square-foot lawn area immediately adjacent to the river to be used for outdoor events such as weddings, social gatherings, meetings and so on.ÔÇØThe council is currently in negotiations with the Hotel Indigo chain to build a 157-room boutique hotel on the site, while the Best Western hotel, which is only 100 yards away, has plans to expand from its current 55-room capacity to over 150 rooms (although the current economic climate has led to a postponement of the plans). ÔÇ£We also have a 274-room Hilton two blocks away,ÔÇØ Bridges says. ÔÇ£But we intend this to be a regional facility, and we want the surrounding community to benefit from the economic effects it will bring. With the Atlantic Ocean and Wrightsville Beach just 15 minutes from downtown Wilmington, we fully expect convention visitors to return again and again, and to stay on with their families on vacation.ÔÇØ The new center is not merely a business venture, though. It will ultimately provide some interesting amenities for the residents in Wilmington. The city has a riverwalk that runs several miles along the Cape Fear River through downtown Wilmington and is very popular with the residents. In conjunction with completing the convention center, that walk will be extended around the front and side of the center, while the roads, pavements, walkways, street lighting and landscaping will all be renewed. Although ground was officially broken on the site in December 2007 and construction started in February 2008, the completion date has yet to be decided. Plans for an extension to the convention center, adding four more meeting rooms, is imminently due to go before the council. ÔÇ£If they authorize that extension, then the final completion date will be Labor Day 2010,ÔÇØ Bridges says. The convention center is being built on what is essentially a brownfield siteÔÇöan old abandoned railroad yard that dates back to the 1800s. ÔÇ£Tests showed that there had been some contamination on the site from the offloading of petroleum products. So we had to haul away around 5,000 tons of contaminated soil and send it to facilities designed to handle it. And weÔÇÖve put a one-foot clean cap of soil in its place. The same thing applied when we were excavating the ground for the piles and foundation work. We had to test around two million gallons of water that had been pumped out of the ground. So far weÔÇÖve been lucky and have been able to discharge it safely into the sewer systems.ÔÇØThe history of the site has also presented some amusing finds. ÔÇ£Being an old railroad site, weÔÇÖve dug out of the ground old rail lines, old tires, timber, concrete, pipes ÔǪ but no bones. The most interesting thing has been old bottles dating back to the 1800s. I have a bunch of them here in my office,ÔÇØ he finishes, ÔÇ£and IÔÇÖm saving them so that when the project is finished, they can go on display in the convention center.ÔÇØ ÔÇô Editorial research by Alan Iodice