|
Convention space across Louisiana is being built with adaptability in mind. Exhibition halls, meeting rooms and even bathrooms can be subdivided when necessary.
Cities across Louisiana continue to spend millions of dollars to build or expand existing meeting space to attract convention business.
New Orleans' $315 million expansion of its convention center, finally out of litigation, is scheduled to begin construction this fall despite Hurricane Katrina.
In late August, just days before the hurricane made landfall, workers began clearing brush at the site that had grown during a 22-month contract dispute.
Broadmoor LLC's three-year project will expand the convention center from 1.1 million to 1.6 million sq. ft. Tourism officials are hoping the project will revive the state's convention business, which has been in decline since shortly after the last expansion of the convention center in 1999.
Other convention center projects in the state have encountered fewer obstacles and are nearing completion. Following are a few of the major convention or event centers under construction.
Natchitoches Event Center. The $6.6 million Natchitoches Event Center will open this month, said Ronald D. Smith, president of general contractor RDS Construction.
Smith said Hurricane Rita delayed the project by about two weeks, as crews waited for power to be restored and materials deliveries were delayed.
"We've had difficulty getting materials, fuel and workers," he added. "We're currently finishing up the concrete and installing architectural metal coping around the building."
Inside the event center will be a state-of-the-art kitchen, a "major chillwater mechanical system," and a high-tech sound and lighting system.
Divider walls will be used to subdivide the event center's meeting space into three sections.
"The main meeting area measures about 14,400 sq. ft., and there's one large 4,000-sq.-ft. meeting room that can be subdivided into three meeting rooms," he added.
Metal trusses provide support for the main event area and a large catwalk was installed to support special event lighting.
The 55,000-sq.-ft. facility will be used to host events for about 1,500 people within the exhibit hall and meeting rooms, and will also include a concession facility and administrative offices.
Two huge doors will allow for parade floats to come in the front of the building and down a ramp to the back of the concrete and brick structure, Smith said.
Convention center & parking garage, Shreveport. Yates Construction of Philadelphia, Miss., expects to finish Shreveport's $65 million Convention Center and Parking Garage this month.
A $52 million Hilton Hotel is being built adjacent to the convention center and will open by November 2006.
The convention center project consists of two structures separated by Market Street in downtown Shreveport. The 350,000-sq.-ft. Convention Center will be the city's largest public building, boasting a 100,000-sq.-ft. exhibition hall, 18,000-sq.-ft. ballroom and 10 meeting rooms, each measuring more than 1,500 sq. ft.
"The roof and floor trusses to create those open rooms are quite large," said Mickey Rosenblum, Yates vice president. "It took two 200-ton cranes to set them."
The multipurpose building has been designed to accommodate a variety of events including trade shows, conventions, receptions and meetings.
The convention center will also feature a full-service kitchen capable of serving up to 5,000 people.
Across Market Street, and connected by a pedestrian bridge, a multi-level parking garage will accommodate more than 800 vehicles.
The garage was turned over to the owner after completion.
East St. Tammany Event Center. The most unique thing about the 38,000-sq.-ft. East St. Tammany Event Center in Slidell is the 400 tons of steel needed for its structure.
"That amount of steel for a building this size is incredible," said project manager Ricky Smith with general contractor Gibbs Construction Co. of Harahan. "Most of that is needed for the support columns and trusses that create the 180-ft. free-span in the main exhibit hall." Cowboy Steel Co. of Prairieville fabricated and erected the steel.
The interior height of the building is a minimum of 30 ft. and peaks at about 48 ft. in the middle of the building.
The building is supported by 80-ft.-long, 14-in.-sq. precast piles, pile caps, footings "and a hefty slab." The 10-in.-thick, heavily reinforced slab can support weights of 250 pounds per square inch, which is necessary to support heavy truck traffic.
"The exterior of the building is a combination of EIFS and metal panels, as well as some curtainwall in the front," Smith said.
The main exhibit hall can be subdivided into three sections. There are also meeting rooms and administrative offices in two corridors that branch off the building's grand lobby.
Smith said even the bathrooms have partitions.
"The ceramic tile bathrooms can be altered to facilitate a male or female function," he added. "They come with roll-up doors that separate the three bathrooms.
If a ladies' event is being held there, the doors can be opened up so the women can use two of the three rooms. Vice versa for a predominately male event."
The project was finished in early summer. About 100 people were working at the peak of construction.
Click here for more features >>
|
print this page
e-mail this page
