On Monday, April 23,  the City of Kansas City, Mo., Convention and Entertainment Facilities Department and the Capital Improvements Management Office held  a media tour of the Kansas City Convention Center’s new Grand Ballroom. This was the public’s first opportunity to see the finished interior of the building expansion.

The tour, which began inside the building’s main entrance located at 16th Street and Wyandotte, was led by City officials including Mayor Kay Barnes and Councilman Chuck Eddy; Rick Hughes, president and CEO of the Kansas City Convention and Visitors Association; and representatives of the project team.

Those attending took a first-hand look at the Convention Center’s new 130,000 square foot expansion as well as the building’s 46,000-square foot ballroom. In-depth presentations provided background about the public art installation, the state-of-the-art amenities, challenges posed by building the structure over Interstate 670, and what innovative LEED features were employed to increase the building’s energy-efficiency. The tour concluded with a dynamic lighting display highlighting the ballroom’s ability to be custom tailored for each special event.

The Convention Center’s expansion and new grand ballroom are one of the first projects to be completed as a part of the City’s current downtown economic redevelopment.

“The new Grand Ballroom ranks as one of the country’s top five largest facilities of its kind,” said Oscar McGaskey Jr., Executive Director of the Convention and Entertainment Facilities Department. “It will play a key role with securing future conventions and events, and will help to bring millions of additional tourism dollars to Kansas City.”