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The Group Travel Leader Going on Faith Select Traveler

Columbia’s Comeback

Beyond the Four Walls

The South Carolina State Museum integrates the museum’s amenities with the character of the original mill building that houses the museum with a variety of options for both daytime meetings and evening receptions. Three dedicated meeting rooms, all with adjacent kitchens, offer space for groups of 25 to 175 surrounded by murals of Columbia. In the evening, groups can take over the main lobby, which can hold up to 1,300 guests and integrates a grand staircase with the original mill building’s exposed brick, and adds space for an additional 250 incorporating the mezzanine overlooking it. The glass-front planetarium lobby, overlooking Gervais Street and the Vista neighborhood, can seat 200 or hold up to 400 for a standing reception.

Further downstream, the Riverbanks Zoo and Garden has dedicated space explicitly for meetings and events, allowing meeting planners to take their meeting or reception all over the world without leaving the city. Two rooms with capacity for about 100 classroom-style transport groups to an African savannah or the terraced gardens of a country estate for daytime meetings. In the evening, groups can also avail themselves of the Tuskers Café, with views of the zebra, giraffe and ostrich enclosures, and the 20,000-square-foot Aquarium-Reptile Complex, with a 55,000-gallon coral reef providing inspiring inbuilt decor. Rangers can also facilitate animal encounters, bringing zoo residents to mingle with attendees over lunch or an evening reception.

In the heart of downtown, off of a sun-filled square, the “new” home of the Columbia Museum of Art — after the museum moved from the historic Taylor Family home in 1998 — offers a stunning contemporary setting for evening receptions. The two-story atrium features a glass chandelier the museum commissioned from Dale Chihuly. Groups can rent the atrium and the lobby, with a combined capacity of 350, outside of business hours; the auditorium, seating 154, when it’s not in use for museum events; and one of three meeting rooms during business hours.

Also downtown, just across Gervais from the South Carolina State House, the Capital City Club offers groups panoramic views of downtown and the State House from the top of South Carolina’s tallest building. Large groups can rent out the entire club, which has a capacity for up to 1,000, but the club also features a variety of meetings and reception rooms, including boardrooms for as few as 10.

For venues with more backstory, the Historic Columbia Foundation, a local nonprofit that offers tours of seven historic properties around the city, is practically one-stop shopping for interesting off-site venues. In addition to historic tours, the foundation oversees five properties that are available for event rentals.

With a combined area of more than 14 acres of gardens, many outdoor rental areas are available, including the gardens of the Woodrow Wilson Family Home, the 1818 Hampton-Preston Mansion and the 1795 Seibels House and Gardens. The gardens of the Woodrow Wilson Family Home can accommodate up to 250, and the others up to 400. Indoor venues are available but more limited in terms of space. The Big Apple, a storied building that began as a synagogue in 1915 before becoming an African-American nightclub in the 1930s, can hold 150 guests standing and 80 seated, as can the Seibels home. The Robert Mills House, the former home of the architect who designed the Washington Monument and now a National Historic Landmark, can seat 50 in its carriage house.

Columbia, South Carolina

Location:

Central South Carolina

Access:

Columbia Metropolitan Airport, Interstates 77, 20, 26

Major Meeting Spaces:

Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center, Columbia Marriott, Hilton Columbia Center

Hotel Rooms:

11,547 rooms in the Columbia region; more than 1,000 within a mile of the convention center

Offsite Venues:

South Carolina State Museum, Riverbanks Zoo and Garden, Columbia Museum of Art, Historic Columbia

Contact Info:

Columbia Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau
803-545-0000
www.columbiacvb.com