What's New

The Midwest has glamorous shopping and huge conventions in Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Cleveland, Kansas City, and a dozen other big cities. In 2008, the GOP will hold its Republican National Convention in the Twin Cities. But it's “Big Ten” country in any year, and an excellent place to build a meeting or an incentive around a clash of titans in football or basketball, or a pro game that attendees will talk about for years.

The 2010 NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) Men's Final Four will be held in Indianapolis' new Lucas Oil Stadium, scheduled to open in summer 2008. The stadium also will host the NCAA Men's Basketball Midwest Regional in March 2009. The stadium will be connected by tunnel and skywalks to the Indiana Convention Center, hotels, and the Circle Center Mall. The RCA Dome will be torn down.

Built on 24 acres in the heart of Chicago, Millennium Park, with its Cloud Gateway, includes the Harris Theater for Music and Dance, the Jay Pritzker outdoor performing arts pavilion, an indoor a year-round theater, a restaurant, an ice-skating rink, and gardens.

Also in Chicago, the Mills Co. broke ground in 2005 for the first phase of the 108 North State Street Project, which will include retail, dining, entertainment, a hotel, an office tower, and transit station components. The goal is to energize the State Street Retail District, opening in late 2008.

In May, the city of Rosemont, Ill. unveiled the master plan for Rosemont Walk, a 60-acre, $500 million mixed-use development built around the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center and Rosemont Theatre. Phase one has broken ground. It includes Grizzly Falls Resort, a water park and 400-room resort; a 525-room Le Meridien hotel; and Muvico Rosemont Walk 22, a 4,750-seat, 22-screen megaplex.

Indianapolis International Airport will soon have a new terminal. The Civic Plaza terminal's shape will resemble the city's central public area, Monument Circle. Construction is scheduled to be finished in late 2008.

Meanwhile, talk of expansion of the Indiana Convention Center is in the air, but more space isn't anticipated to be available until late 2010, nearly doubling Indianapolis' exhibit space to about 550,000 square feet.

After 83 years, Cleveland figures it could use a new convention center. Possible sites include an expansion of the existing center or new construction along the Cuyahoga River. On its Lake Erie waterfront, Cleveland is redeveloping eight miles of freeway into a tree-lined boulevard, including a trolley museum and a “Rock Block” of shops, plus an 18-hole golf course.

Facilities Update

Illinois

• In July, McCormick Place will complete its West building, adding 700,000 square feet of meeting and exhibition space. The campus' three buildings have a total of 2.2 million square feet of exhibit space.

• The 411-room Westin Chicago North Shore opened in October, 16 miles north of Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. It has 35,000 square feet of meeting space and three restaurants.

• The Swissotel Chicago, on East Wacker Drive, provides meeting spaces a cut above the usual. The 668-room hotel has 27,000 square feet of meeting space in 32 rooms. The 6,000-square-foot Grand Ballroom accommodates up to 500 people and the William Tell Theater has tiered seating for 60 people. The Edelweiss Penthouse, on the 43rd floor, can seat 250 and give them a bird's-eye view of Lake Michigan, the Navy Pier, and the Magnificent Mile.

• Trump International Hotel & Tower is being built on the Chicago River and will include 286 rooms.

• The 302-room James Hotel recently opened in downtown Chicago.

• Renaissance Hotels & Resorts and the Village of Schaumburg opened the $224 million Renaissance Schaumburg Hotel & Convention Center in 2006. The convention center has 100,000 square feet of obstruction-free exhibit space, a 28,000-square-foot ballroom, and 20,000 square feet of meeting space. The hotel has 500 guest rooms.

• The Hyatt Regency O'Hare reopened in Rosemont in February following a $60 million transformation of its 1,100 guest rooms, 110,000 square feet of meeting space, and the addition of the O'H lobby restaurant and Red Bar.

• Gemstone Hotels & Resorts will transform the Chicago House of Blues hotel into the Hotel Sax Chicago to the tune of $17 million, including a complete renovation of all 353 guest rooms, lobby area and an increased 10,000 square feet of meeting and function space. The name change will be effective in May.

Indiana

• French Lick Resort Casino, a $382 million historic restoration and development project, opened in November. It includes French Lick Springs Hotel, the new French Lick Casino, and the West Baden Springs Hotel (opening this spring). The resort will have 693 guest rooms and suites; an 84,000-square-foot casino; 36,000 square feet of meeting space; 45 holes of golf; a pool and fitness complex; and a bowling alley.

• Doubletree Hotel Minneapolis Park Place completed a multimillion-dollar renovation, giving the hotel a new main entrance and upgrading 298 guest rooms and more than 26,000 square feet of meeting and event facilities.

Michigan

• The Motor City Casino, in Detroit, has broken ground on its $275 million, 17-story gaming hall, 400-room hotel, and conference center. Construction will add a spa, retail space, restaurants, and a parking structure by late this year.

• Construction of Detroit's permanent Greektown Casino Resort will include a 13-floor parking garage with 20 to 22 stories of hotel rooms on top. The resort will have a spa and pool, a 1,300-seat theater, a ballroom, and meeting rooms.

• MGM Grand Detroit Casino's permanent $600 million facility is under construction. Plans call for a 401-room hotel, convention space, and a casino.

Minnesota

• Plans call for the 140-room Graves Uptown Hotel Minneapolis to open by the end of 2008 as part of a $150 million mixed-use development called Mosaic. The hotel will have a 5,800-square-foot ballroom, a spa, and a restaurant.

• The $105 million Grand Lodge and Water Park of America Hotel, adjacent to the Mall of America in Bloomington, opened in 2006 with 403 rooms and with meeting space.

Ohio

• Battelle Hall, part of the original Greater Columbus Convention Center, will be converted from exhibition space into one of the largest ballrooms in the state. Construction is expected to begin on the 90,000-square-foot facility late this year and finish by late 2009.

• In Sandusky, a new Kalahari Resort opened in 2005. The resort offers 596 guest rooms and suites and the Nia Center. Nia has 95,000 square feet of meeting and event space in 25 meeting rooms, including a 17,200-square-foot grand ballroom. The resort has a spa and fitness center and is in the midst of an expansion that will take its 80,000-square-foot waterpark to 175,000 square feet.

• Cincinnati's new Duke Energy Center, which recently completed a $135 million expansion and renovation, is a study in color that looks wonderful and helps attendees to navigate the structure. Ideal convention sizes are one or two groups with 3,000 to 4,500 people. The Hyatt, Westin, and the Millennium are attached by skywalks to the center.

Wisconsin

• Marcus Corp. will spend $70 million over the next year to renovate five convention hotels, including downtown Milwaukee's 220-room Wyndham Milwaukee Center and the Pfister Hotel, which will get a new restaurant and spa, along with renovation of some of the hotel's 307 guest rooms and meeting space. The Milwaukee hotel operator also will update Grand Geneva Resort & Spa in Lake Geneva, Westin Columbus hotel in Columbus, Ohio, and Skirvin Hotel in Oklahoma City this year.

• The Wilderness Hotel & Golf Resort last year built a 25,000-square-foot banquet and conference center into the lodge it opened in Wisconsin Dells.

• The owner of the Olympia Resort & Conference Center is planning a $12 million hotel-condominium next to the Oconomowoc resort to be called Willow Hill. The 88-unit building is expected to be complete this summer.

• With over 100,000 square feet of meeting space, the Africa-themed Kalahari Waterpark and Resort at Wisconsin Dells has a convention center large enough to accommodate most events and is particularly popular for meetings that include families. It has two ballrooms that do double duty as exhibit venues, and 35 other meeting spaces. Kalahari has 740 guest rooms and both indoor and outdoor waterparks.

Ask the CVB

Illinois

Chicago Convention & Tourism Bureau
(312) 567-8500
www.choosechicago.com
Total Hotel Tax: 14.9%

Rosemont Convention Bureau
(847) 823-2100; www.rosemont.com
Total Hotel Tax: 12.5%

Indiana

Indianapolis Convention & Visitors Authority
(317) 639-4282
www.indy.org
Total Hotel Tax: 15%

Michigan

Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau
(888) 225-5389
www.visitdetroit.com
Total Hotel Tax: 13% to 15%

Grand Rapids/Kent County CVB
(800) 678-9859
www.meetgrandrapids.org
Total Hotel Tax: 13%

Kalamazoo County CVB
(800) 530-9192
www.discoverkalamazoo.com
Total Hotel Tax: 9%

Minnesota

Greater Minneapolis CVA
(800) 445-7412, (612) 767-8000
www.minneapolismeetings.com
Total Hotel Tax: 13%

Saint Paul CVB
(800) 627-6101
www.visitsaintpaul.com
Total Hotel Tax: 13%

Ohio

Greater Columbus CVB
(614) 221-6623
(800) 354-2657
www.ExperienceColumbus.com

CVB of Greater Cleveland
(800) 321-1001
www.clevelandmeetings.com
Total Hotel Tax: 15.5%

Greater Cincinnati CVB
(800) 543-2613
www.cincymeetings.com
Total Hotel Tax: 17%

Wisconsin

Greater Madison CVB
(800) 373-6376
www.visitmadison.com

Phantom Planner

• Megabus, a division of Coach USA, started service last April to nine Midwestern cities, including Milwaukee, Minneapolis, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Columbus, Cleveland, and Detroit. The hub is Chicago. Megabus works on the Southwest Airlines model: fast, no-frills service direct to city centers. Tickets are available online and can range from $1 to $60 per trip. Contact www.megabus.com/us.

• People in the Midwest say “pop,” not “soda.” Two of the most delicious bottled pops have been crowded off store shelves almost everywhere but in Michigan: Vernor's Ginger Ale (bearing no relation to its pale, tasteless cousin) and Faygo Redpop. Both are made in Detroit.

• Getting to and from Chicago's McCormick Place from downtown is convenient via the dedicated busway. Charter buses bypass local traffic on a two-lane, 2.5-mile roadway. Travel time averages eight minutes from Randolph Street to McCormick Place. A busway map is available at www.mccormickplace.com/maps_direct/maps_dir.html.

• Hereschicago.com is Chicago's Resource Directory, providing meeting and event planners access to professional meeting and event venues and services in Chicagoland.

Special Venues

• Cleveland Botanical Garden is an exotic Glasshouse — the only one of its kind. It has 10 acres of gardens, including a children's garden. The venue in University Circle offers magnificent settings for events, with space that can seat 250 theater-style. Full-service catering and audiovisual and teleconferencing support are available. www.cbgarden.org

• The Epic Center is home to the arts in Kalamazoo, Mich. The 89,000-square-foot building is designed in Industrial art deco style and houses several options for meetings, including an atrium, a boardroom, a classroom, and two theaters. (269) 342-5059; www.epiccenter.org

• The Harley-Davidson Museum is under construction at Sixth and Canal streets in Milwaukee. The 130,000-square-foot museum, which is expected to open in 2008, will feature exhibits as well as meeting space, special events facilities, and the company's archives. Contact the CVB.

• Coco Key, Chicago's first major indoor waterpark resort, is in Arlington Heights at the Sheraton Chicago Northwest. The facility will be available for groups as a teambuilding venue. The Sheraton has 426 guest rooms and 30,000 square feet of meeting space. (847) 394-2000