View Single Post
  #48  
Old Posted Apr 4, 2013, 8:05 PM
mgs11's Avatar
mgs11 mgs11 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: ABQ
Posts: 589
$20M makeover under way

By Jessica Dyer / Journal Staff Writer on Wed Apr 3, 2013




The fancy new glass facade, light tower and balcony – aka “party deck” – are coming.

But, for now, the Albuquerque Convention Center’s $20 million makeover is concentrated mostly on the inside.

The property’s first major renovation in 21 years began in late January, and much of the first phase is devoted to overhauls of the kitchen and ballroom.

The $8 million phase – which also includes the removal of a loading dock ramp and exterior storage unit and some new stucco – has gone smoothly so far.

“We’re on schedule and on budget,” Keith Reed, manager of the city’s Construction Services Division, said during a recent site tour.

The first phase – handled by contractor Gerald Martin – is on a tight time frame due to the center’s future commitments, Reed said. The kitchen and ballroom should be finished by early July.

The promise of a renovated ballroom has been key in luring new meeting business to the city, said Albuquerque Convention & Visitors Bureau President and CEO Dale Lockett. He said it was instrumental in landing an American College for Clinical Pharmacy event expected to bring 1,500 attendees and an estimated $870,700 in direct spending this October.

Lockett said the ballroom had previously been “on its last legs as something we could sell.”

“We cannot say how much more business the upgrade will ultimately bring in. What we can say definitively is that without this reinvestment in our convention center product, we would not be competitive for much longer due to what our competition was doing,” Lockett said via email.

Mayor Richard Berry announced the makeover last summer. The city refinanced some of its Convention Center debt at a lower interest rate to fund the project.

The design by Dekker/Perich/Sabatini will be implemented in two phases. The second phase should begin in late August and conclude next summer, Reed said. It includes the facade and balcony as well as upgrades to the atrium – and its industrial, fractured-face concrete walls – designed to give the space a more inviting feel. That means a fireplace, new furniture and new plaster and paint for the atrium’s interior walls.

Right now, though, the ballroom and kitchen are getting the attention.

The 11,400-square-foot kitchen has been gutted and will be getting new plumbing, electrical wiring, lighting and an all-around more user-friendly redesign, Reed said. The kitchen work will also create space for food-related events, such as tastings.

The ballroom – often divided into three smaller spaces by temporary walls – is getting a new ceiling as well as new carpeting, LED lighting and wall partitions. Crews are creating a new service corridor along the room’s western edge, enhancing staff access.

The restrooms – which opened directly into the ballroom – will have their access points flipped so that users enter through the atrium instead.

Convention Center General Manager Lewis Dawley said construction has meant shifting previously planned events from one part of the venue to another and preparing all meals in emergency kitchen trailers outside the building. But the center has been able to accommodate all scheduled events, he said, and crews have worked to minimize construction-related disruption.

“We’ve moved people around and had to relocate folks, but we’re feeling pretty good,” Dawley said. “We’re on our way.”

http://www.abqjournal.com/main/2013/...under-way.html
Reply With Quote