What's New

Slowly but steadily, meetings and incentive events are returning to the mid-South cities damaged by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. And nowhere is the improvement in business conditions more apparent than in the city that exemplifies the recovery: New Orleans.

“Since the resurgence of our convention business in 2006,” says Kelly Schulz, vice president of communications and publications, New Orleans Metropolitan Convention & Visitors Bureau, “we have proven time and time again that New Orleans is a viable, safe, and remarkable place to bring meetings. In addition to our longtime citywide association clients … corporate America is discovering New Orleans. Maritz Travel, Walt Disney Co., Whirlpool, Coca-Cola, Konica Minolta, Sherwin Williams, and many others have been drawn to New Orleans for the wealth of community service opportunities.”

In Point Clear, Alabama, where the Mobile Bay Grand Hotel Marriott Resort, Golf Club & Spa took a direct hit from the flood surge of Katrina, the facility is back to full glory, thanks to an army of construction workers, landscapers, and resort employees. The resort completely reopened November 1, 2006.

• Facilities Update

  Alabama

  In 2005, the 30-year-old MONTGOMERY CIVIC CENTER began a $29 million transformation that will result in 70,000 square feet of exhibit space and add an 1,800-seat performing arts center.

  Kentucky

  The center will be reflagged the MONTGOMERY CONVENTION CENTER. In September, ground was broken for an adjacent $150 million, 12-story, 347-room RENAISSANCE hotel that will include a 14,000-square-foot ballroom and meeting space. The convention center and hotel are slated to open in winter 2008.

• Louisiana

  HAMPTON INN & SUITES will revitalize a historic property across from Montgomery Convention Center. The hotel is scheduled to open in winter 2008.

• The Resort Collection on Alabama's Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail in Mobile Bay opened its seventh property, BATTLE HOUSE HOTEL, on May 11. An eighth hotel reopens in February 2008. Meanwhile, Riverview Plaza is undergoing a $32 million renovation that is scheduled to be complete by this summer. Both the Battle House Hotel and Riverview Plaza Hotel will officially become Renaissance hotels after renovations are complete. The total cost of the Battle House projects is estimated at $220 million.

• In Auburn/Opelika, the MARRIOTT HOTEL completed a renovation. The hotel now has 114 rooms and 15 suites, as well as 13 meeting rooms with a total of 15,000 square feet of meeting space.

• Alabama

  The 209-room HUNTSVILLE WESTIN HOTEL will open in late 2007 or early 2008 in Bridgestreet Towne Center in Cummins Research Park.

• Birmingham's historic TUTWILER HOTEL is undergoing a complete overhaul in stages that are nearing completion. The renovation will bring 162 refurbished rooms, including 68 suites, to downtown. The hotel will be affiliated with the Hampton Inn and Suites brand.

• A $17 million upgrade, expected to be complete in late 2008, is under way at the SHERATON BIRMINGHAM HOTEL, the largest renovation project since 1991. Each of the 757 guest rooms will have new furniture, drapes, and bathroom features. The Sheraton adjoins the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex.

• Kentucky

  AMERISUITES BIRMINGHAM is renovating and will become HYATT PLACE, with completion in late summer or early fall.

• A 200-room luxury hotel is planned at the $70 million development at the site of the former Federal Reserve Building in Birmingham. The LEXINGTON COLLECTION HOTEL will occupy the top eight floors of the 18-story office tower. The building, likely to be fully operational by or before 2009, will meet the U.S. Green Building Council's standards.

• Louisiana

  Alabama's second-oldest operating hotel, the historic REDMONT HOTEL, plans to convert the top two floors into condominiums, the first area hotel to pursue such a project. At least 90 of the hotel's 114 guest rooms will remain.

• The Pickwick Hotel, another of Birmingham's historic lodging properties, is being renovated. The 63-room boutique hotel has been renamed THE HOTEL HIGHLAND@FIVE POINTS SOUTH. It reopened in April.

• A $23 million MARRIOTT RESIDENCE INN will open in February 2008 in downtown Birmingham.

• Mississippi

  The BIRMINGHAM-JEFFERSON CONVENTION COMPLEX has plans for additions to the center, including a 1,250,000-square-foot, 40,000-seat arena that would double as an exhibition hall with 167,000 square feet of floor space. The $505 million expansion awaits approval by the Birmingham City Council and the Jefferson County Commission.

• The CARNEGIE VISUAL AND PERFORMING ARTS CENTER provides events, educational programs, and art exhibitions in Covington, 10 blocks south of the Ohio River and downtown Cincinnati. With five art galleries, a newly renovated turn-of-the-century theater, and an education center, the Carnegie is the largest arts venue in Northern Kentucky.

• Tennessee

  Marriott's GRIFFIN GATE RESORT in Lexington opened the first full-service hotel spa in the city in May. The resort's meeting space has been increased to 21,000 square feet.

• The HYATT REGENCY in downtown Lexington changed hands and will begin a $16 million renovation during the fourth quarter of 2007, due for completion by 2009. The hotel will maintain normal operations during the project.

• The KENTUCKY EXPOSITION CENTER continues expansion and renovation of its East Wing. In April 2006, the East Wing/East Hall Reconstruction Project began converting 215,000 square feet from outdated space into class “A” space. The project is expected to cost $50 million and will be complete this fall.

• Construction of the new LOUISVILLE ARENA is to begin in summer 2008, with completion in 2010. The arena will have 22,000 seats and 700,000 square feet.

• The $465 million MUSEUM PLAZA will add to Louisville's skyline, standing 62 stories along the Ohio River with 270,000 square feet of offices on 13 floors, a 250-room WESTIN HOTEL, a ballroom, fitness center, spa, restaurant and bar/lounge, a 140,000-square-foot plaza, 20,000 square feet of restaurants and shops, 36,500 square feet of studios for the University of Louisville fine arts program, plus an 800-space parking garage. Ground will be broken September 27, with anticipated completion in 2010.

• West Virginia

  21C MUSEUM HOTEL opened in April 2006. It's Louisville's first boutique hotel, with 93 rooms, and has more than 5,000 square feet of meeting space.

• Phantom Planner

  DRAWBRIDGE INN AND CONVENTION CENTER has begun a $7 million renovation, its first major renovation since the hotel opened in 1970. Construction began in January and will take one year. The hotel has 400 guest rooms and 30,000 square feet of meeting space.

• Special Venues

  Set to open in late May (as of press time), the $27 million, 60,000-square-foot ANSWERS IN GENESIS CREATION MUSEUM in Hebron is a one-of-a-kind, high-tech museum filled with animatronic displays, striking videos, a state-of-the-art planetarium, and Special Effects Theater.

• Special Venues

  The LOUIS ARMSTRONG NEW ORLEANS INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT recently welcomed ExpressJet Airlines to New Orleans. In December, the airport launched a campaign to clean and improve the environment at the facility.

• With $60 million in renovations completed, the ERNEST N. MORIAL CONVENTION CENTER in New Orleans is sporting a brand-new look and level of comfort. Renovations include new flooring and furnishings on all three levels. Morial offers a 4,000-seat auditorium, 12 exhibit halls, and 140 meeting rooms.

• New hotel developments abound in New Orleans, including the opening of the HILTON ST. CHARLES HOTEL, which began accepting reservations May 1. All major hotels in New Orleans are open, with the HYATT HOTEL reopening in April 2008. The FAIRMONT HOTEL's opening date is still to be determined.

• The RITZ-CARLTON New Orleans reopened in December after a 15-month, $100 million renovation and restoration effort. The entire hotel was enhanced; its spa was expanded to 25,000 square feet and reopened in April.

• IBERVILLE SUITES HOTEL reopened in March with 230 rooms. The hotel is part of The Ritz-Carlton Hotels of New Orleans complex.

• ASTOR CROWNE PLAZA, at the gateway to New Orleans' French Quarter, unveiled several renovations in October, including an additional 3,500 square feet of meeting space. The hotel has 30,000 square feet of flexible function space.

• The BATON ROUGE RIVER CENTER expansion, which opened in 2004, includes more than 200,000 square feet of space. The 70,000-square-foot exhibition hall can be combined with the arena to create more than 100,000 square-feet of contiguous exhibit space. The center plans for another renovation and expansion in 2008. The project includes turning the old 26,000 square feet exhibit hall into a ballroom.

• The HEIDELBERG HOTEL AND CAPITOL HOUSE in downtown Baton Rouge reopened in August as the HILTON BATON ROUGE CAPITOL CENTER. The historic hotel, which was constructed in 1927, has also added a spa, Atelier Rouge.

• The 313-room HILTON SHREVEPORT HOTEL, scheduled to open in July, adjoins the new 350,000-square-foot SHREVEPORT CONVENTION CENTER.