Cobo Center renovation continues
The final phase of a $299 million transformation of the Cobo Conference and Exhibition Center in Detroit is underway. Construction crews are turning the existing Cobo Arena into a 40,000-sq.-ft. ballroom with an open-air terrace. They are also creating an atrium and entrance, turning the building’s primary facade into a high-tech digital signboard, and reconfiguring most of the meeting and breakout space along the building’s south side. “Today’s the day when the caterpillar officially enters its cocoon and begins its transformation into a butterfly,” Detroit Regional Convention Facility Authority Board Chair Larry Alexander said, referring to the center’s new atrium, which will be three stories stall, made of glass and in the new entrance that faces the Detroit River. “When complete, this area will be the most visually dramatic and breathtaking manifestation of physical change to the facility.”
Renovations began in 2009 and are scheduled for completion by 2015, in time for the ASAE Annual Meeting and exposition that summer. Exhibit space and meeting rooms are still available for groups during construction.
