Courtesy Provo Convention Center
Mountain views in Utah Valley
The new Utah Valley Convention Center in Provo, Utah, is aimed at corporations and university business in one of the state’s fastest-growing areas.
Provo lies between Salt Lake City and St. George. Its only convention hotel, a 330-room downtown Marriott, could not keep up with the demand for meeting space from new software companies moving to the area and business from two area universities, which combined have 65,000 students.
“Now we can host a lot of the corporate business that was going to Salt Lake City because we didn’t have a facility large enough,” said Tennille Wanner, director of sales. The center is managed by Global Spectrum.
Its three-level ballroom has a traditional brick facade to blend with Provo’s downtown historic district. Two other sides are glass to provide views of the Wasatch Mountains.
The three-level convention center has a 20,000 square foot divisible exhibit hall on its first level, a 17,000-square-foot divisible ballroom on its second level and 10,000-square-feet of meeting space on its third level. A 5,500-square-foot rooftop garden can be used for meals and events and has mountain views. The center is adjacent to the Marriott.
Like the Jekyll Island center, Provo’s was built to LEED Silver standards. It too echoes the area’s landscape, with a three-dimensional ceiling that looks like a tree canopy and other touches.
Because the area is growing rapidly, the center was built to grow as well. Materials used on its less-visible west side can be removed and recycled when the center expands in a few years.
“Our center was built with the future in mind,” said Wanner.
801-851-2200
www.utahvalleyconventioncenter.com
