City and Team San Jose Officials along with Hunt Construction’s top project management announced the next step in the San Jose Convention Center expansion project in San Jose, Calif. The project milestone began June 28 with the installation of a crawler crane, and it extended to July 2 with the first structural steel arriving on the construction site.
“The new Convention Center will increase Team San Jose’s competitive edge selling San Jose as a destination in the meetings and convention marketplace,” said Bill Sherry, CEO, Team San Jose. “We’re thrilled with the progress made to date with the convention center expansion and renovation. Last week’s crane installation and today’s gathering to welcome the first structural steel are major project milestones signifying that the Convention Center’s expansion is on time and on budget for completion in fall 2013.”
The first steel package in the structure of the project includes more than 1951 tons with the high roof trusses the longest at 150′ spans. The 275 ton crawler crane is being used for erection of the steel. A majority of the steel is from Nucor Yamato’s Blytheville, Arkansas, mill with structural fabrication from San Bernardino Steel, New Millennium Building Systems and Star Seismic.
The Convention Center expansion and renovation project is currently underway and slated for completion in fall 2013. The expansion will add an additional 125,000 square feet of flexible ballroom and meeting room space, increasing San Jose’s Convention Center space to 550,000 square feet of usable space. The expansion is planned on the footprint of the old MLK library.
Every effort will be made to conserve resources during the demolition of the library. Ninety-five percent of demolition remnants will be recycled, and demolition remnants will equate to an estimated 1300 truckloads of material. Additionally, MLK concrete was crushed on-site to be reused in the new expansion foundation.
The $120 million San Jose Convention Center expansion and renovation project is funded through a dedicated hotel tax voted by San Jose hoteliers in 2009. By legal requirement, the tax can only be used to support capital improvements at the Convention Center and includes ongoing revenue for future capital needs. The special hotel tax shifts reliance on funding primarily from the City’s General Fund further helping address the City’s current budget challenges.
The Convention Center opened in 1989 and currently offers 425,000 square feet of exhibit, ballroom and meeting space. Since 1989, San Jose’s hotel and tourism industry has grown to an estimated $123 million hotel revenue industry, generating over $10 million annually in tax revenue to support city services.
Team San Jose CEO Bill Sherry (center) and local leaders supervise a milestone of the San Jose Convention Center expansion — the first structural steel being placed. The expanded convention center, which will feature 125,000 square feet of new, flexible space, will debut in fall 2013 and remains open for business throughout the project. Pictured left to right: Robert Thomas, GM, Marriott San Jose; Brent Leif, project manager, Hunt Construction Group Project Manager; Bill Sherry, CEO, Team San Jose, Dave Costain, COO, Team San Jose; and Dave Sykes, director, City of San Jose Department of Public Works.
