The group charged with expanding the convention center began the new year with appointing a new member while working on site and design plans.
Geoff McKim takes Eric Spoonmore’s spot on the county’s Capital Improvement Board. James Silberstein is reappointed. John Whikehart remains president. The others are finishing two-year terms.
Bonding will fund the $52 million project. The board has enough petition signatures to ask city council to enter into a bond agreement.
Funding for the convention center comes from the county’s food and beverage tax. Some local state legislators want Ellettsville’s share returned to the town and a bill to do that is being considered at the statehouse. The board didn’t comment on the matter other than during the public comment period.
County council member David Henry said county commissioner Jody Madeira presented testimony at the statehouse Wednesday.
“I joined with her frustration about the way that legislation develops and as we're watching that process move forward, about what it means,” Henry said.
A sub-committee offered key considerations in naming the complex. Those include the target audience, sense of place, maintaining consistency, yet different from other entities. They’ll consider more feedback in February with the final name for approval in March.
Whikehart said updated site plans include decreasing the Third Street bus lane cut-out from 300 feet to 100 feet. City planning staff wanted more sidewalks and trees.
“We're still discussing with them other aspects of things we're looking at that may require some variances, but they have been more amenable to looking at the bus cut-out we have shortened,” he said.
Design concept of a modified bus drop off lane on the north end of the convention center expansion. (Schmidt Associates, Convergence Design)
City staff also asked for more discussion on traffic closures during construction of the skywalk connecting the expansion project to the existing convention center.
A new wrinkle to the interior is an added staircase to the roof patio. The extra exit will double the capacity to 100 people, making it more marketable.
The design presentation featured several main hall layouts. A full lecture, concert layout with stage and sound booth could accommodate 2,970 seats. To compare, the IU Auditorium has 3,200 seats.
A full exhibit layout could contain 157 booths. A full banquet layout could hold 140 tables with 1,400 seats. Other layouts showed how the space can be subdivided into multiple rooms with different setups.
Interior design renderings show more color and pattern options than before. Design wraps up in February so construction documents can be completed by July.
Construction bidding will start in March with construction scheduled to begin in June. The expansion project is scheduled to be open in January of 2027.
