Atlanta officials have revealed a plan that details how the Georgia World Congress Center will undergo a substantial facelift, creating 1.1 million square feet of contiguous exhibit space and solving one of the facility’s most frustrating structural challenges for exhibit organizers. The core component of the refurbishment and redesign plan is to retrofit halls B and C to make them one conjoined space – a project that will require extending the hall footprints to close the gap between them. Currently the halls are separated by an outside delivery and utility truck corridor that attendees must walk through to move between buildings.
As the fourth largest convention center in the country, Georgia World Congress Center hosts some of the nation’s largest events. But the layout of the campus, as well as the relative lack of lodging adjoining the property, have long been lamented as the venue’s weak spots.
The expansion plan, called the 2020 Vision Plan, seeks to remedy those and other issues, creating a more seamless experience for visiting exhibitors and attendees, officials say. An 800-room hotel is planned for a space adjacent to the facility, as is a new stadium and other improvements to the convention center corridor.
A completion date has not yet been announced for the hall renovation, but venue executives say work will be scheduled in such a way that it will not interfere with shows booked in the space during construction. The entire plan for the campus, however, is expected to be completed by 2020.
