Tri-Cities has its centerpiece

Published 9:00 pm Sunday, June 27, 2004

KENNEWICK – From a position near the northwest corner of the newly completed Three Rivers Convention Center in Kennewick, Ed Allen admired the view in the towering, glass-paneled lobby.

“This is 100 percent more than what I had initially envisioned,” said Allen, treasurer of the Kennewick Public Facilities District Board.

The lobby of the 81,000-square-foot convention center glitters with color, texture and light, day or night.

With a price tag of $20.6 million and three years in the making, the center is officially open for business, said Kim Shugart, director of convention center sales for the Tri-Cities Visitor and Convention Bureau.

The 14,000-square-foot lobby with its massive windows and wine-themed cafe brings a grand feeling to the center, which has eight meeting rooms and a great hall capable of seating 1,500 people and serving them from a state-of-the-art kitchen.

“This is 50 percent more than what we could have conceived,” said Dean Strawn, board president, while showing off the center to media.

Strawn and the other board members – Steve Young, Calvin Dudney, Barbara Johnson and Allen – worked for three years to guide the project to completion.

Lydig Construction and ALSC Architects, both of Spokane, teamed up for the design-build project.

Initially envisioned as a center of at least 50,000 square feet at a cost of $13 million, it grew in size and cost to a final form of 81,000 square feet at $20.6 million.

Strawn said the enhancements, which accounted for some of the extra expenses, were critical in helping take the center from being just a big box to an impressive meeting place for the region.

Changes in design produced the distinctive sweeping glass-fronted lobby, accent lighting inside and outside, enhancements to insure cellphone functionality anywhere in the concrete structure, lightning protection and a state-of-the-art wireless environment for Internet connectivity.

Instead of a concrete slab in the lobby, visitors have stonelike tiles, restrooms that can be converted for male or female use as needed, a commercial kitchen with the latest technology in cooking equipment, plasma screen televisions placed strategically to alert people about events or announcements during conventions, a finely finished board room and offices for convention management staff.

“Through management of assets, we were able to make a huge difference in the way the convention center looks,” Shugart said.

The facility is dressed in Tri-Cities colors and textures recalling the desert, rivers and wine country themes.

The first show in the convention center will be the Big Boy Toy Show July 9-11, featuring boats, water sports craft, Harley-Davidson motorcycles and a host of power, electronic and camping equipment.

Shugart said nine conventions have been booked so far, with the smallest at 150 people and the largest at 1,500 people.

The first convention of more than 200 will be in October when the American Public Works Association comes to town.

“This is going to do a lot for us to drive our retail and restaurant businesses,” said Barbara Johnson, a board member and manager of the Columbia Center mall.

The convention center also is bringing new employment opportunities, with 40 to 60 people being hired through Centerplate, the onsite food and beverage management company that runs the kitchen.