Strategic PartnershipsOhio – Developers are currently in the design phase and hope to have renderings available in early September for the Duke Energy Convention Center. The facility will receive an 18-month renovation.
Upgrades to the convention center are part of a $200 million project to rebuild the facility entrances, extend exhibit halls, and upgrade meeting and ballroom spaces. Updates are also planned for the convention center district, including a new hotel and a 58,000-square-foot park and outdoor convention space.
The site of the former Millennium Hotel will remain vacant, with the long-term plan being a possible expansion of the convention center on Elm Street.
The interim plan for the former Millennium site calls for a “fantastic” outdoor programmable space, per Leeper. The plan would close Elm Street to car traffic by default but allow it to reopen as needed.
Exhibition space on the east side of the convention center would be expanded and opened to allow programming to flow out into the former Millennium site. The site, referred to in the proposed design renderings as “Elm Street Park,” could also be used for community events. Designs also show the facility standing 28 stories tall.
The project design could also include the end of an iconic “Cincinnati” sign. The sign has welcomed northbound drivers on Interstate 75 since 2005. According to developers, no final decisions on the sign have been made, and several options are being considered.
