Cleveland Convention Center to Open Ahead of Schedule

Work on a new, underground convention center in downtown Cleveland is ahead of schedule and under budget, allowing officials to move the opening date ahead two months to July 1, 2013. The accelerated schedule means the Cleveland Medical Mart & Convention Center will be able to serve as the base of the 2013 Summer National Senior Games that the Ohio city is hosting. The $465 million facility is a partnership between developer Merchandise Mart Properties Inc. of Chicago and Cuyahoga County. When complete, the center will include a 225,000-square-foot exhibition hall under part of a large downtown public park known as The Mall, as well 90,000 sq. ft. of meeting space and 32,000- and 11,000-square-foot ballrooms. The convention facilities will be connected to an above-ground, four-story, 235,000-square-foot medical mart, a showplace for medical technology scheduled to open Aug. 31, 2013. cleveland.com