Montreal To Break Ground On Conv. Center
<B> Montreal To Break Ground On Conv. Center</B>
By Carolyn Green
After years of discussion and debate, an extensive expansion to the Palais des Congres de Montreal, the city's major convention facility, is one step closer to reality with construction expected to begin before year-end. The enlarged facility, which will see both meeting and exhibit space double in size, will cost $120 million and be operational by June 2002.
To local officials, the expanded convention and exhibition facility has been warmly welcomed. "It will make us much more competitive with the bigger cities in the U.S., like Boston, San Francisco and Seattle," said John Dunn, director of sales and marketing for the Marriott Chateau Champlain and chairman of a downtown sales and marketing hotel association called Team Montreal. "We want to be able to go after American business because there's a lot more of it now, and we haven't been able to go after bigger conventions because we don't have enough exhibit space."
When construction is complete, exhibition space will be expanded to 200,000 square feet, meeting space will increase to 60,000 square feet and the number of meeting rooms will jump to 50. The new center also will be able to accommodate plenary sessions for 5,000 or have two smaller groups simultaneously.
George Andreopolous, director of business travel sales for the Greater Montreal Convention and Tourism Bureau, said the expansion is essential if Montreal wants to remain competitive with other convention destinations. Otherwise, he said, the city "really risks falling into a secondary tier if we don't keep up with the Joneses."
Recent statistics certainly point to a deterioration in Montreal's allure. According to the tourism bureau, the city hosted 280 events in 1998, down from 341 a year earlier and 357 in 1996. The number of delegates and economic spin-off figures also declined substantially.
Todd Charlebois, director of sales and marketing for the convention center, said before the go-ahead to expand was given, the city had been bidding on 15 major conventions that could not be accommodated without the expansion. Within weeks of receiving the green light, five of the 15 groups have agreed to hold their meetings in Montreal and a sixth is close to signing.
Noting that by 2005, the goal of the Palais is to gain 15 percent of the potential U.S. market in Canada, Charlebois said, "so far so good. We had one convention in May--the American Helicopter Society--that met for the first time ever out of the U.S. These groups are saying that they want to come to Montreal because it is the only North American destination that is a bridge between North America and Europe."
While it's still early, spokesmen are confident that the expansion will create even more new development. Dunn said he is aware of two potential hotel projects near the convention center that could open early in the new millennium.
Andreopolous said an area adjacent to the convention center--Cite Internationale, the headquarters for a variety of international associations--could be infused with close to $700 million in new investment.
Although the expansion is three years from completion and construction has not yet begun, various marketing groups already are touting the new facility to potential and existing clients.
Charlebois said proposals from three Montreal-based construction firms will be evaluated and a selection made by the end of October. The chosen firm, he said, will have developed a schedule ensuring that conferences being held during the expansion will not be disturbed.