The $279 million capital improvement project is on schedule to the completed and on budget. The construction was 53% complete at the end of March and is on track to be finished by January 2015, according to the Detroit Regional Convention Facility Authority. Cobo Center's largest project, the 40,000 sq. foot Grand Riverview Ballroom is set to be complete in just 90 days.
DETROIT, MI - Patrick S. Bero, CEO of Detroit Regional Convention Facility Authority, lead a media hard hat tour of Cobo Center in midst of its construction Tuesday afternoon.
The $279 million capital improvement project is on schedule to the completed and on budget. The construction was 53% complete at the end of March and is on track to be finished by January 2015, according to the Detroit Regional Convention Facility Authority.
Cobo Center's largest project, the 40,000 sq. foot Grand Riverview Ballroom is set to be complete in just 90 days.
An outside dinning area will wrap around the floor-to-ceiling glass windows of the ballroom facing the Detroit river. The dining area will have room outside on a large wrap-around patio and inside of the glass windows for year-round seating.
The ballroom will have a large freight elevator that can lift large cars and trucks for the North American International Auto Show. The space is already well-sought after for competing car companies vying for the new space, said Bero.
The outside walls of the ballroom are curved into an 'orb', as explained by Bero, and will have a metallic finish.
Other features in the works for Cobo's convention center are a food court and large kitchen space. 25,000 sq. feet worth of meeting rooms will be below the ballroom, adjacent to the atrium. They will feature sliding dividers to keep the space functional.
The atrium features floor-to-ceiling glass windows with a stunning video over the river. It has white marble columns and walls installed and will have Italian tile flooring as well, giving the room an elegance when complete. "We need to restore this facility to an international convention center," said Bero.
The new design of Cobo had to create a functional flexible space as well as uphold a state mandate to break even, which means the center needs to run off its own revenue. "Virtually no center in the county does this," said Bero.
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