George R. Brown Convention Center
Encyclopedia
Downtown Houston
Downtown Houston is the largest business district of Houston, Texas, United States. Downtown Houston, the city's central business district, contains the headquarters of many prominent companies. There is an extensive network of pedestrian tunnels and skywalks connecting the buildings of the district...
Houston, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
The center was named for the prominent Houstonian George R. Brown
George R. Brown
George Rufus Brown was a prominent Houstonian entrepreneur. Brown led Brown & Root Inc. to become one of the largest construction companies in the world and helped to foster the political career of Lyndon B. Johnson. The George R. Brown Convention Center and the George R...
, an entrepreneur, civic leader and philanthropist. Brown’s Texas Eastern Corporation donated six of the 11 blocks required to build the convention center. The center is owned and operated by the City of Houston, Convention & Entertainment Facilities Department. The facility was completed with a price tag of $104.9 million, requiring 30 months and more than 1,200 workers. The sleek 100-foot (30 m) high red-white-and-blue building replaced the obsolete Albert Thomas
Albert Richard Thomas
This article is about the US Congressman. For the article on the French Socialist and First Director of the International Labour Organisation see Albert Thomas ....
Convention Center, which was later redeveloped into the Bayou Place
Bayou Place
Bayou Place is an 130,000 square foot entertainment complex that houses multiple theaters, bars and restaurants located in Downtown Houston, Texas, United States. The complex was the former Albert Thomas convention center located in the Houston Theater District at 500 Texas Street...
entertainment complex in the downtown Houston Theater District
Houston Theater District
The Houston Theater District, a 17-block area in the heart of Downtown Houston, Texas, United States, is home to Houston's nine performing arts organizations, the Bayou Place entertainment complex, restaurants, movies, plazas and parks...
.
History
The center sits where the Pillot House, a house owned by the family of one of the founders of the Henke & PillotHenke & Pillot
Henke & Pillot was a chain of supermarkets headquartered in Houston, Texas. The chain began in 1872. During its final years of existence, it was a subsidiary of Kroger, which acquired Henke's in 1955...
supermarket chain, used to be. The Pillot House was moved to Sam Houston Park
Sam Houston Park
Sam Houston Park is a park located in downtown Houston, Texas, and is dedicated to the buildings and culture of Houston's historic past. The park, which was the first to be established in the city, was developed on land purchased by former Mayor Sam Brashier in 1900.-History:Mayor Brashear...
in 1965.
The first convention held in the George R. Brown Convention Center began on October 11, 1987 for the American Society of Travel Agents. Renovations began on July 28, 2001 to expand the convention center and build an adjacent 1,200-room convention headquarters hotel at a cost of $165 million and requiring 27 months of construction. The adjacent hotel is the Hilton Americas-Houston and is connected to the convention center via two skywalks. The hotel and convention center are not connected to the Houston downtown tunnel system
Houston Downtown Tunnel System
The Houston tunnel system is a system of tunnels below Houston's downtown street system. The system comprises approximately of tunnels and forms a network of subterranean, climate-controlled, pedestrian walkways that link 95 full city blocks...
. The project expanded the center from 1150000 square feet (106,838.5 m²) to 1,800,000 square feet (107,000 to 167,000 m²). Three exhibit halls were added to increase exhibition space from 451500 square feet (41,945.7 m²) to 853,500 square feet (42,000 to 79,000 m²) and sixty-two meeting rooms were added for a total of 105. Completion of the project concluded in September 2003 a few months before Super Bowl XXXVIII
Super Bowl XXXVIII
Super Bowl XXXVIII was an American football game played on February 1, 2004 at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas to decide the National Football League champion following the 2003 regular season....
.
At the same time, METRORail was completed on schedule (connecting downtown to the Houston Museum District
Houston Museum District
The Houston Museum District commonly known as, “The Museum District,” is an association of museums, galleries, cultural centers and community organizations located in Houston, Texas, dedicated to promoting the arts, sciences, and cultural amenities of the area.The Houston Museum District currently...
, Texas Medical Center
Texas Medical Center
The Texas Medical Center is the largest medical center in the world with one of the highest densities of clinical facilities for patient care, basic science, and translational research...
and Reliant Park
Reliant Park
Reliant Park is a complex in Houston, Texas, USA, named after the energy company Reliant Energy. It is located on Kirby Drive at the 610 Loop...
), and what is deemed a revived downtown Houston has opened doors to future conventions (in 2004 and 2008, the Texas Democratic Convention was held at the GRB). The International Quilt Festival and International Quilt Market annually draws about 50,000 per year. In 2008, the 12 acres (48,562.3 m²) Discovery Green
Discovery Green
Discovery Green is a public park in Downtown Houston, Texas, United States. Opened in 2008, Discovery Green is located on Avenida de las Americas across from the George R. Brown Convention Center and the Hilton Americas Hotel, adjacent to Toyota Center...
park was completed across the street and the three-block Houston Pavilions
Houston Pavilions
Houston Pavilions is a commercial development in Downtown Houston, Texas, United States.Construction was scheduled to begin in Spring 2006 , with the first developments opening in the fourth quarter of 2007...
(a retail and entertainment complex, anchored by House of Blues
House of Blues
House of Blues is a chain of 13 live music concert halls and restaurants in major markets throughout the United States. House of Blues first location was in Cambridge's Harvard Square. It was opened in 1992 by Isaac Tigrett, co-founder of Hard Rock Cafe, and Dan Aykroyd, star of The Blues Brothers...
) opened four blocks away. A new 700-car parking garage was built under Discovery Green to replace two surface lots removed to make way for the park. The convention center is flanked by Toyota Center
Toyota Center (Houston)
The Toyota Center is an indoor arena located in downtown Houston, Texas. It is named after the Japanese automobile manufacturer Toyota. The arena is home to the Rockets of the National Basketball Association, the principal owners of the building, and the Aeros of the American Hockey League.Rockets...
(home of the Houston Rockets
Houston Rockets
The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston, Texas. The team plays in the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was established in 1967, and played in San Diego, California for four years, before being...
) and Minute Maid Park
Minute Maid Park
Minute Maid Park is a ballpark in Downtown Houston, Texas, United States that opened in 2000 to house the Major League Baseball Houston Astros....
(home of the Houston Astros
Houston Astros
The Houston Astros are a Major League Baseball team located in Houston, Texas. They are a member of the National League Central division. The Astros are expected to join the American League West division in 2013. Since , they have played their home games at Minute Maid Park, known as Enron Field...
). With the new improvements, the George R. Brown Convention Center is one of the 10 largest in the nation.
After Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
, approximately 7,000 refugee
Refugee
A refugee is a person who outside her country of origin or habitual residence because she has suffered persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or because she is a member of a persecuted 'social group'. Such a person may be referred to as an 'asylum seeker' until...
s went to the convention center, due to the Astrodome being at its full capacity.
In 2009, a televised audition of the show America's Got Talent
America's Got Talent
America's Got Talent is an American reality television series on the NBC television network, and part of the global British Got Talent franchise. It is a talent show that features singers, dancers, magicians, comedians, and other performers of all ages competing for the advertised top prize of...
was filmed at the convention center.
The Houston Press
Houston Press
The Houston Press is an alternative weekly newspaper published in Houston, Texas, United States. It is headquartered in Downtown Houston....
ranked the building as one of the ten least photogenic buildings in Downtown Houston. John Nova Lomax, the author of the list, commented "They say that architecture is frozen music. If you melted the George R. Brown, you’d hear Baby Jane
Baby Jane
Baby Jane may refer to:* What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, a 1960 novel by Henry Farrell** What Ever Happened to Baby Jane , a film based on the novel, starring Bette Davis and Joan Crawford** Baby Jane Hudson, a character from the above work...
singing “The Good Ship Lollipop.”