[bystander1]

The official ground-breaking ceremony was held today for the convention center hotel!

I saw a rendering on WAKA News, and although at first I hated the 16-22-21-10 stories tall merry-go-round for the hotel, it looks as though they've settled for width over height instead-- going with 12 stories.
It looks nice from the little glimpse I saw on TV, but I will really be able to tell when I see the rendering again in the paper tomorrow as they've promised (not the most reliable paper in the world...).

I'll post them then!

It's really interesting how this grew from an $85M, to $130M, to $157M project...







City reveals plans for convention center

By Sebastian Kitchen
Montgomery Advertiser



Local and state officials revealed plans this morning for the $157 million hotel, convention center, performing arts theater and parking deck that will anchor downtown development.

Today was the official groundbreaking and the hotel is expected to open for business in September 2007.

The hotel has 347 rooms, will be 12 stories tall and be located along Commerce Street in downtown Montgomery.

The project will be the latest in series intended to rejuvenate and bolster downtown Montgomery and strengthen the city’s core, Mayor Bobby Bright said.

The hotel is expected to be a Renaissance, one of the upscale Marriott brands.

The civic center will have more than 70,000 square feet of meeting space and there will be a 14,000 square foot ballroom on the main level.

The performing arts center will hold 1,800 people for traveling Broadway shows and other entertainment.

The bottom floor of the hotel will feature an upscale restaurant along Commerce Street.

The six-level parking deck will hold more than 600 spaces.

The top deck of the hotel will feature an 8,000 square-foot European-style spa, fitness center and pool.

The hotel and convention center will join the riverfront amphitheater, the baseball stadium and other development along the riverfront.

The project is a partnership between the city and Retirement Systems of Alabama. The city is contributing about $30 million plus the land and the shell of the former civic center. RSA will fund the remaining portion of the project.