City, county and state leaders gathered at the newly remodeled Cincinnati Convention Center Wednesday for a ribbon-cutting ceremony ahead of the building’s official reopening.
Crews are still working on putting the finishing touches on the convention center as the building prepares to host Redsfest next weekend — its first event since closing for renovations in 2024.
“From the beginning, this project has been defined by the phrase ‘once-in-a-generation.’ It reflects not only the renovation, but also the broader opportunity to revitalize the entire Convention District,” Caitlin Felvus with 3CDC said. “This building is flexible, energy efficient and filled with natural light, and it is designed to serve Cincinnati for decades to come.”
Renovations totaled $264 million and were finished in 18 months — on time, says 3CDC. Updates to the 55-year-old, 750,000-square-foot building included a new, modern glass façade; upgraded meeting and ballrooms; and a new roof, as well as energy-efficient improvements. On the third floor, the Queen City Ballroom, formerly the Junior Ballroom, underwent a complete renovation and now sports a 6,000-square-foot outdoor roof terrace. There are also works from local artists installed across all three floors of the convention center.
City leaders called the project monumental for Cincinnati, saying it reshapes the area into a premier destination for large-scale meetings, events and tourism.
“You look at the jewel we’re cutting the ribbon on today, and you will see exactly why we are so confident about Cincinnati’s future,” Mayor Aftab Pureval said during the ceremony. “For so long, these leaders across governments, across organizations and the private sector have put their belief, their energy and their dollars behind the revitalization of western downtown. This did not happen randomly. It happened because we all understand the power that our transformed convention center will have to anchor a new era of growth in this district, to put us back on top when it comes to tourism, to attracting the biggest events and opportunities around the nation and the globe.”
Pureval added that the completion of the convention center project is not the end of Cincinnati’s growth, pointing to the construction of the new Marriott convention headquarters hotel and the mixed-use development projects on surrounding properties.
“There is a momentum here in our urban core that the leaders surrounding me will continue to invest in at every turn,” Pureval said.
Julie Calvert, the president and CEO of Visit Cincy, Cincinnati’s tourism and travel board, says the reimagined convention center also makes a statement about who we are as a region and how we choose to compete.
“It’s about belief in Cincinnati, belief in our people and belief that collaboration can turn long-held and carefully crafted vision into reality. For years, our focus has been clear: Ensure Cincinnati has what it needs to win — win conventions, win national attention, win the economic impact that supports jobs, small businesses, neighborhoods and the quality of life for people who call this region home. This convention center is essential to that mission.”
The Cincinnati Convention Center project’s end comes just about a month-and-a-half after the new Elm Street Plaza opened next to it. The two-and-a-half-acre outdoor park and event venue offers direct access to the convention center’s first-floor exhibit hall.
Another major upgrade to the convention center’s façade includes the iconic CINCINNATI sign, which was officially unveiled earlier this week. Updates to the sign include individual LED-illuminated letters, which give operators complete creative control over the content displayed within the sign. Operators can customize each letter, including colors, motion graphics, animations and even separate video streams.
Cincinnati Convention Center, 525 Elm St., Downtown. More info: cincyconventions.com.