Baltimore Convention Center
Encyclopedia
The Baltimore Convention Center is a convention and exhibition hall located in downtown Baltimore, Maryland. The Center is a municiple building owned and operated by the City of Baltimore
. The facility was constructed in two separate phases: the original Center, with 425,000 square feet (39,500 m²) of exhibition and meeting space, opened in August 1979 at a cost of $51.4 million. A $151 million expansion, which increased the Center's total size to 1,225,000 square feet (113,800 m²), was completed in April 1997. The 752-room, city-owned Hilton Baltimore
hotel opened in August 2008, connected to the convention center by an enclosed skywalk bridge. Another expansion to the Baltimore Convention Center has been proposed at a estimated cost of $400 million that includes a new 500 room hotel and a 18,500 seat arena, the entire project itself is estimated to cost $900 million total.
, which opened in 1980; the Maryland Science Center
, which opened in 1976; and the National Aquarium in Baltimore
, which opened in 1981, the Convention Center was intended to be a catalyst for tourism, an important part of the City's post-manufacturing economic development plans. An Abell Foundation report in June 2005 describes the Convention Center as having been "built as an economic development tool to attract to Baltimore conventions, trade shows, and meetings that would leave in the city millions of dollars spent on lodging, food, entertainment, and other services." (Controversy, 2005, p. 3) A report on economic development in the area, entitled Subsidizing the Low Road: Economic Development in Baltimore, states that "public and non-profit facilities such as the Maryland Science Center, the World Trade Center
, the Convention Center, and the National Aquarium" (Subsidizing, 2002, p. 11) were part of then-mayor Schaefer's "focus on real estate, retailing and tourism sectors" (p. 10), as areas for growth, as well as his utilization of "'public/private partnerships' to pursue economic development" (p. 11).
During the next two decades, due in part to the success of the Convention Center and the other attractions, Oriole Park at Camden Yards
, Sports Legends Museum at Camden Yards, M&T Bank Stadium
, Power Plant Live!
, and the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African-American History, have joined the area, creating a ten-block plus entertainment and cultural destination at Baltimore's Inner Harbor
, further increasing tourist dollars flowing into the region.
A June 2005 Greater Baltimore Committee report on tourism in Baltimore illustrates the importance of tourism in the current Baltimore region's economy:
One convention that has been reported by the Baltimore Business Journal to have had a major economic impact in 2002-2005 for Baltimore is Otakon
, a convention that focuses on Anime and other facets of East Asian culture. The convention has resided in the Baltimore Convention Center since 1999.
The Convention Center is also viewed as important to the recent development on Baltimore's West Side. According to Ronald M. Kreitner, executive director of West Side Renaissance Inc., the "Convention Center will help contribute to the success of the theatres and the retail," referring to the development of the France-Merrick Performing Arts Center/Hippodrome Theatre, as well as new retail ventures in the area. (Renaissance, 2003)
, remarked that the Convention Center "has not lived up to its potential. There are many reasons, but we believe a major reason is the lack of a convention hotel in close proximity." (Revive, 2005)
Thus some—most notably Baltimore's former Mayor and now Governor of Maryland Martin O'Malley
—feel that a hotel adjacent to the Convention Center will make it a more appealing site for conventions. The completed construction of a new Washington Convention Center
and the National Harbor project in Prince George's County have intensified the debate.
In general, supporters of a convention hotel say that for the Convention Center to be viable in the future, and compete with other cities for conventions, a new, "Headquarters" hotel is necessary to guarantee enough rooms for group meetings. Opponents of the hotel project have either questioned the necessity of a new hotel altogether, or objected to the use of public dollars to finance the project.
The Baltimore Convention Center hotel broke ground in February 2006. The hotel's name is Hilton Baltimore, and it is connected to the Convention Center. Baltimore City used public revenue bonds to cover the $301.7 million cost of building the hotel, which has 752 rooms and is the city's largest hotel. It opened in August 2008.
(See Baltimore Convention Center Hotel Project for more details regarding the Convention Center hotel.)
over two levels of underground parking, a new 500 room Sheraton hotel and stores and restaurants facing Pratt, Charles and Conway Streets. At the time, the $900 million price tag was the only obstacle with the proposal.
However on May 25, 2011, at the annual meeting for the Greater Baltimore Committee, it was announced that the owner of the Sheraton Inner Harbor hotel, local business and construction magnate, Williard Hackerman made an offer that he would be willing to finance more than half of the proposed $900 million price tag and would be willing to build the hotel and the arena which is estimated to cost $500 million and the remainder, $400 million for the convention center expansion would need to be financed by the State of Maryland and Baltimore City, the offer is contingent on whether the city and state can move the convention center expansion project forward. The offer received a positive reception from both Baltimore City Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley who both have submitted requests to the Maryland Stadium Authority to conduct a feasibility study on the project that is due by the end of 2011.
Visit Baltimore, the architects involved and others have said that this project is unique in that no other cities in the nation would have a combination arena-hotel-convention center the size of the proposed project in Baltimore.
It's currently being argued that if Baltimore does not expand its convention center, the city could "fall off the map as a potential convention choice," especially since the cities with which Baltimore competes with, Washington D.C. (recently built and opened the Walter E. Washington Convention Center and has announced plans to open a 1,175-room Marriott Marquis hotel with 100,000 SF of convention and meeting space in 2013), Philadelphia (recently opened its newly expanded convention center of over 700,000 SF of meeting and convention space), and Nashville (currently building a 1.2 million SF convention center and a convention headquarters hotel currently slated to open in 2013) has or are in the process of expanding its convention and hotel space.
When the 1996 expansion to the Baltimore Convention Center opened, the convention center was ranked 28th largest in the nation in terms of exhibition and meeting space, 15 years later, the convention center plummeted to 73rd largest and as a result, Baltimore is losing convention business. Visit Baltimore reports that the Hilton Baltimore Convention Center Hotel that opened in August 2008 is helping but since the opening of the Hilton, the city has lost over 700,000 hotel-night bookings due to the convention center being too small to meet the needs of a group or the dates the group wanted was not available but expanding the convention center would allow the city to accommodate more than one large meeting or convention at a time. The Greater Baltimore Committee estimates that with the proposed arena-hotel-convention center, Baltimore could accommodate as many as 300 new convention groups that cannot utilize Baltimore currently due to the size of the convention center.
On June 2, 2011, the Baltimore Sun reported that Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and Governor Martin O'Malley wants the Maryland Stadium Authority to pay for the estimated $150,000 feasibility study that will determine the "estimate of taxes that the project would generate" and if the study finds the project to be viable, O'Malley and Rawlings-Blake wants "an analysis of potential financing options and a strategy for moving the work forward." The Maryland Stadium Authority is expected to consider the feasibility study request at a June 14th meeting.
On June 14, 2011, the Baltimore Sun reported that the Maryland Stadium Authority unanimously approved the feasibility request with a 7-0 vote however the Maryland Stadium Authority wants the city of Baltimore to pay for part of the $150,000 cost for the feasibility study.
On July 18, 2011, the Baltimore Sun reported that the Baltimore Convention & Tourism Board approved to take $50,000 out of Visit Baltimore's budget to pay for the $150,000 feasibility study that the Maryland Stadium Authority approved on June 14, 2011.
As of October 10, 2011, the Maryland Stadium Authority has posted on its website the feasibility study that was approved on June 14, 2011 for the project that is expected to include "a market and economic study of the convention center expansion and incremental tax benefits for all three venues, and a funding strategy." According to the page that has the study listed, "The study is expected to be complete by winter [2011]."
Baltimore, Maryland 21201
of the Maryland Transit Administration
's light rail
system, providing direct links to both BWI Airport
and Baltimore Penn Station (MARC Penn Line
and Amtrak
Northeast Corridor
trains).
(MARC) station are also within walking distance of the facility.
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
. The facility was constructed in two separate phases: the original Center, with 425,000 square feet (39,500 m²) of exhibition and meeting space, opened in August 1979 at a cost of $51.4 million. A $151 million expansion, which increased the Center's total size to 1,225,000 square feet (113,800 m²), was completed in April 1997. The 752-room, city-owned Hilton Baltimore
Hilton Baltimore
The Hilton Baltimore is a 757–room hotel located on West Pratt Street in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Initially proposed in 2003, actual construction of the city-owned venture took place between 2006 and 2008 as part of the Baltimore Convention Center...
hotel opened in August 2008, connected to the convention center by an enclosed skywalk bridge. Another expansion to the Baltimore Convention Center has been proposed at a estimated cost of $400 million that includes a new 500 room hotel and a 18,500 seat arena, the entire project itself is estimated to cost $900 million total.
History
As was the case with HarborplaceHarborplace
Harborplace is a festival marketplace in Baltimore, Maryland, that opened in 1980 as a centerpiece of the revival of downtown Baltimore. As its name suggests, it is located on the Inner Harbor....
, which opened in 1980; the Maryland Science Center
Maryland Science Center
The Maryland Science Center, located in Baltimore's Inner Harbor, opened to the public in 1976. It includes three levels of exhibits, a planetarium, and an observatory. It was one of the original structures that drove the revitalization of the Baltimore Inner Harbor from its industrial roots to a...
, which opened in 1976; and the National Aquarium in Baltimore
National Aquarium in Baltimore
The National Aquarium, Baltimore is a public aquarium located at 501 E Pratt St. in the Inner Harbor area of Baltimore, Maryland, USA. It was constructed during Baltimore's urban renewal period and opened on August 8, 1981. The aquarium has an annual attendance of 1.5 million and a collection of...
, which opened in 1981, the Convention Center was intended to be a catalyst for tourism, an important part of the City's post-manufacturing economic development plans. An Abell Foundation report in June 2005 describes the Convention Center as having been "built as an economic development tool to attract to Baltimore conventions, trade shows, and meetings that would leave in the city millions of dollars spent on lodging, food, entertainment, and other services." (Controversy, 2005, p. 3) A report on economic development in the area, entitled Subsidizing the Low Road: Economic Development in Baltimore, states that "public and non-profit facilities such as the Maryland Science Center, the World Trade Center
Baltimore World Trade Center
Located on the Inner Harbor of Baltimore, Maryland, the Baltimore World Trade Center is the world's tallest regular pentagonal building . It was designed by the architectural firm Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, with the principal architects being Henry N...
, the Convention Center, and the National Aquarium" (Subsidizing, 2002, p. 11) were part of then-mayor Schaefer's "focus on real estate, retailing and tourism sectors" (p. 10), as areas for growth, as well as his utilization of "'public/private partnerships' to pursue economic development" (p. 11).
During the next two decades, due in part to the success of the Convention Center and the other attractions, Oriole Park at Camden Yards
Oriole Park at Camden Yards
Oriole Park at Camden Yards is a Major League Baseball ballpark located in Baltimore, Maryland. Home field of the Baltimore Orioles, it is the first of the "retro" major league ballparks constructed during the 1990s and early 2000s, and remains one of the most highly praised. The park was...
, Sports Legends Museum at Camden Yards, M&T Bank Stadium
M&T Bank Stadium
M&T Bank Stadium is a multi-purpose football stadium located in Baltimore, Maryland. It is the home of the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League. The stadium is immediately adjacent to Oriole Park at Camden Yards, the home of the Baltimore Orioles. Served by the Hamburg Street station of...
, Power Plant Live!
Power Plant Live!
Power Plant Live! is a collection of bars, clubs, and other businesses in the Inner Harbor section of downtown Baltimore, Maryland. It was developed by the Cordish Company and opened in phases during 2001, 2002, and 2003. The entertainment complex gets its name from the nearby "Power Plant"...
, and the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African-American History, have joined the area, creating a ten-block plus entertainment and cultural destination at Baltimore's Inner Harbor
Inner Harbor
The Inner Harbor is a historic seaport, tourist attraction, and iconic landmark of the City of Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Described by the Urban Land Institute in 2009 as “the model for post-industrial waterfront redevelopment around the World.” The Inner Harbor is actually the end of the...
, further increasing tourist dollars flowing into the region.
A June 2005 Greater Baltimore Committee report on tourism in Baltimore illustrates the importance of tourism in the current Baltimore region's economy:
Hospitality and tourism and the convention industry are vital components of the region’s economy. According to the Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association (BACVA), spending from domestic travelers in 2002 was $8.476 billion statewide; $2.8 billion in Baltimore alone. This spending supported $719 million in state and local taxes while providing over 44,000 regional jobs.(Voices, 2005)
One convention that has been reported by the Baltimore Business Journal to have had a major economic impact in 2002-2005 for Baltimore is Otakon
Otakon
Otakon is a fan convention in the United States focusing on East Asian popular culture and its fandom. The name is a portmanteau derived from convention and the Japanese word otaku...
, a convention that focuses on Anime and other facets of East Asian culture. The convention has resided in the Baltimore Convention Center since 1999.
The Convention Center is also viewed as important to the recent development on Baltimore's West Side. According to Ronald M. Kreitner, executive director of West Side Renaissance Inc., the "Convention Center will help contribute to the success of the theatres and the retail," referring to the development of the France-Merrick Performing Arts Center/Hippodrome Theatre, as well as new retail ventures in the area. (Renaissance, 2003)
Convention Center Hotel and future of the Convention Center
However, despite the continuing growth and redevelopment in the area, the expanded Convention Center has not met expectations with respect to the number of conventions and people it attracts each year. Quoted in a 2004 Baltimore Sun article, Irene E. Van Sant, then-manager of the Convention Center Hotel Project for the Baltimore Development CorporationBaltimore Development Corporation
The Baltimore Development Corporation is a nonprofit corporation on contract to the City of Baltimore, Maryland, to act as its economic development representative by providing development assistance to new and expanding companies inside Baltimore....
, remarked that the Convention Center "has not lived up to its potential. There are many reasons, but we believe a major reason is the lack of a convention hotel in close proximity." (Revive, 2005)
Thus some—most notably Baltimore's former Mayor and now Governor of Maryland Martin O'Malley
Martin O'Malley
Martin Joseph O'Malley is an American Democratic politician who is currently serving as the 61st Governor of Maryland. Previously, he served as the mayor of Baltimore from 1999 to 2007. He is currently the chairman of the Democratic Governors Association.-Early life, education and career:O'Malley...
—feel that a hotel adjacent to the Convention Center will make it a more appealing site for conventions. The completed construction of a new Washington Convention Center
Washington Convention Center
The Walter E. Washington Convention Center is a convention center located in Washington, D.C. owned and operated by the Washington Convention and Sports Authority . Designed by Atlanta-based architecture firm Thompson, Ventulett, Stainback & Associates, the convention center is located in a...
and the National Harbor project in Prince George's County have intensified the debate.
In general, supporters of a convention hotel say that for the Convention Center to be viable in the future, and compete with other cities for conventions, a new, "Headquarters" hotel is necessary to guarantee enough rooms for group meetings. Opponents of the hotel project have either questioned the necessity of a new hotel altogether, or objected to the use of public dollars to finance the project.
The Baltimore Convention Center hotel broke ground in February 2006. The hotel's name is Hilton Baltimore, and it is connected to the Convention Center. Baltimore City used public revenue bonds to cover the $301.7 million cost of building the hotel, which has 752 rooms and is the city's largest hotel. It opened in August 2008.
(See Baltimore Convention Center Hotel Project for more details regarding the Convention Center hotel.)
Proposed Arena-hotel-convention center Project
In Fall 2010, a local influential business group, the Greater Baltimore Committee, proposed an estimated $900 million project that would demolish the 1979-wing of the Baltimore Convention Center bounded by Sharp, Pratt, Charles and Conway Streets and the nearby Sheraton Inner Harbor Hotel and the attached parking lot and replacing the buildings would be a four-story 760,000 SF convention center expansion, an 18,500 seat arena that will replace Baltimore's existing 1st Mariner Arena1st Mariner Arena
1st Mariner Arena is an arena located in Baltimore, Maryland. In 2003, it was renamed by 1st Mariner Bank, which purchased naming rights to the arena for 10 years. It was reported that 1st Mariner Bank will need to pay the city $75,000 for the next ten years to keep the naming rights to the complex...
over two levels of underground parking, a new 500 room Sheraton hotel and stores and restaurants facing Pratt, Charles and Conway Streets. At the time, the $900 million price tag was the only obstacle with the proposal.
However on May 25, 2011, at the annual meeting for the Greater Baltimore Committee, it was announced that the owner of the Sheraton Inner Harbor hotel, local business and construction magnate, Williard Hackerman made an offer that he would be willing to finance more than half of the proposed $900 million price tag and would be willing to build the hotel and the arena which is estimated to cost $500 million and the remainder, $400 million for the convention center expansion would need to be financed by the State of Maryland and Baltimore City, the offer is contingent on whether the city and state can move the convention center expansion project forward. The offer received a positive reception from both Baltimore City Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley who both have submitted requests to the Maryland Stadium Authority to conduct a feasibility study on the project that is due by the end of 2011.
Visit Baltimore, the architects involved and others have said that this project is unique in that no other cities in the nation would have a combination arena-hotel-convention center the size of the proposed project in Baltimore.
It's currently being argued that if Baltimore does not expand its convention center, the city could "fall off the map as a potential convention choice," especially since the cities with which Baltimore competes with, Washington D.C. (recently built and opened the Walter E. Washington Convention Center and has announced plans to open a 1,175-room Marriott Marquis hotel with 100,000 SF of convention and meeting space in 2013), Philadelphia (recently opened its newly expanded convention center of over 700,000 SF of meeting and convention space), and Nashville (currently building a 1.2 million SF convention center and a convention headquarters hotel currently slated to open in 2013) has or are in the process of expanding its convention and hotel space.
When the 1996 expansion to the Baltimore Convention Center opened, the convention center was ranked 28th largest in the nation in terms of exhibition and meeting space, 15 years later, the convention center plummeted to 73rd largest and as a result, Baltimore is losing convention business. Visit Baltimore reports that the Hilton Baltimore Convention Center Hotel that opened in August 2008 is helping but since the opening of the Hilton, the city has lost over 700,000 hotel-night bookings due to the convention center being too small to meet the needs of a group or the dates the group wanted was not available but expanding the convention center would allow the city to accommodate more than one large meeting or convention at a time. The Greater Baltimore Committee estimates that with the proposed arena-hotel-convention center, Baltimore could accommodate as many as 300 new convention groups that cannot utilize Baltimore currently due to the size of the convention center.
On June 2, 2011, the Baltimore Sun reported that Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and Governor Martin O'Malley wants the Maryland Stadium Authority to pay for the estimated $150,000 feasibility study that will determine the "estimate of taxes that the project would generate" and if the study finds the project to be viable, O'Malley and Rawlings-Blake wants "an analysis of potential financing options and a strategy for moving the work forward." The Maryland Stadium Authority is expected to consider the feasibility study request at a June 14th meeting.
On June 14, 2011, the Baltimore Sun reported that the Maryland Stadium Authority unanimously approved the feasibility request with a 7-0 vote however the Maryland Stadium Authority wants the city of Baltimore to pay for part of the $150,000 cost for the feasibility study.
On July 18, 2011, the Baltimore Sun reported that the Baltimore Convention & Tourism Board approved to take $50,000 out of Visit Baltimore's budget to pay for the $150,000 feasibility study that the Maryland Stadium Authority approved on June 14, 2011.
As of October 10, 2011, the Maryland Stadium Authority has posted on its website the feasibility study that was approved on June 14, 2011 for the project that is expected to include "a market and economic study of the convention center expansion and incremental tax benefits for all three venues, and a funding strategy." According to the page that has the study listed, "The study is expected to be complete by winter [2011]."
Location
The Baltimore Convention Center is located within a superblock bounded by Charles Street, Pratt Street, Conway Street, and Howard Streets. The east and west halves of the Baltimore Convention Center are linked by an enclosed skywalk bridge over Sharp Street. The total land area of the Baltimore Convention Center is 608,968 sq ft (56,575 m²), or 13.98 acres (56,575.1 m²) and the total enclosed area is 400,000 sq ft (40,000 m²). http://sdatcert3.resiusa.org/rp_rewrite/detail.asp?accountnumber=22+01+0682++001&county=03&intMenu=2&SearchType=AccountAddress
1 West Pratt Street (corner of Pratt and S. Charles Street)Baltimore, Maryland 21201
Maryland Transit Administration's light rail stop for the BCC
The west end of the facility—corner of Pratt and Howard Street—is served by the Convention Center/Pratt Street StationConvention Center (Baltimore Light Rail station)
The Convention Center Light Rail Stop is one of 33 stops on the Baltimore Light Rail. It is located adjacent to the Baltimore Convention Center for which it is named, and is also near the entrance to Oriole Park at Camden Yards as well as the Sports Legends at Camden Yards museum...
of the Maryland Transit Administration
Maryland Transit Administration
The Maryland Transit Administration is a state-operated mass transit administration in Maryland, and is part of the Maryland Department of Transportation. It is better known as MTA Maryland to avoid confusion with other cities' transit agencies who share the initials MTA. The MTA operates a...
's light rail
Baltimore Light Rail
The Maryland Transit Administration Light Rail is a light rail system serving Baltimore, Maryland, United States, and the surrounding suburbs.In downtown Baltimore it uses city streets...
system, providing direct links to both BWI Airport
Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport
Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport is an international airport serving the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area in the United States. It is commonly called BWI, BWI Airport or BWI Marshall, BWI being an initialism for "Baltimore/Washington International" and the...
and Baltimore Penn Station (MARC Penn Line
Penn Line (MARC)
The Penn Line is a MARC commuter rail line running from Union Station, Washington D.C. to Perryville, Maryland via Penn Station, Baltimore, Maryland on Amtrak's Northeast Corridor. It is MARC's busiest and only electric line. Currently the line is the fastest commuter rail line in the country, with...
and Amtrak
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...
Northeast Corridor
Northeast Corridor
The Northeast Corridor is a fully electrified railway line owned primarily by Amtrak serving the Northeast megalopolis of the United States from Boston in the north, via New York to Washington, D.C. in the south, with branches serving other cities...
trains).
Maryland Transit Administration's bus stop for the BCC
A major Maryland Transit Administration bus stop is located at the intersection of Pratt & Sharp Streets in front of the Baltimore Convention Center, near the western—half of the Baltimore Convention Center (Pratt Street Entrance).Maryland Transit Administration's nearby MARC Rail stop for the BCC
The Camden Yards Light Rail Stop and Camden LineCamden Line
The Camden Line is a MARC commuter rail line that runs between Union Station, Washington, D.C. and Camden Station, Baltimore, Maryland over the CSX Capital Subdivision. Service began along this route in 1835 as part of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad , making it the oldest passenger rail line in...
(MARC) station are also within walking distance of the facility.
Statistics
- 1,224,943.2,000 sq ft (113,800 m²). total
- 300,000 sq ft (25,000 m²). exhibit hall space
- 85,000 sq ft (7,900 m²). meeting room space
- 32,000 sq ft (3,000 m²). ballroom
- 32 covered loading docks http://www.bccenter.org/about/index.html