Construction work on the expansion of the downtown Milwaukee Convention Center, valued at $ 420 million, is expected to begin in early July.
This comes from a project update presented at a board meeting on Friday of the Wisconsin Center District, the state-created public agency that operates the Wisconsin Center’s convention facility.
The expansion doubles the area of the facility so that two major events can take place at the same time.
Construction is expected to begin in January.
However, work on preparing the development site will begin this summer, said Mike Abrams, senior director at CAA Icon, the Denver-based company hired by the Center District to oversee the project.
That work includes demolition, installation of underground utilities, and digging deep foundations, Abrams said.
The expansion site is now a convention center parking lot north of the Wisconsin Center.
The project will expand the facility’s main exhibition hall by 112,000 square feet for a total of 300,000 square feet.
The development will also create a second ballroom with an outdoor terrace and add meeting rooms, parking lots and loading docks.
The project will take two years to complete. The expanded convention center is scheduled to open in the first quarter of 2024.
The interior design includes a lobby and a welcome desk at the entrance on the corner of West Kilbourn and North Phillips Avenues. This emerges from a presentation that the project architect TVSdesign gave to the board of directors.
This lobby will feature a water feature as well as a wide “collaborative staircase” with space for people to sit.
Meanwhile, the central district sees renewed interest in conventions and other events as the COVID-19 pandemic recedes, said Marty Brooks, district president and chief executive officer.
Brooks announced to board members that all of the Center District employees, many of whom were laid off in 2020, are now back at work.
He also said the district’s February 2020 decision to raise its hourly minimum wage to $ 15 helped recruit employees from part-time events back to work.
Tom Daykin can be emailed to [email protected] and followed on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
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