Design lends itself to flexibility
From above, the center looks like three rectangular boxes, placed side by side and at an angle. Each box sits a little back from the next, creating a cantilevered effect. The side of the center that faces the river is glass.
Inside, the three sections give the three-story building flexibility. On the first floor, a 16,000-square-foot prefunction lobby leads into a 44,000-square-foot exhibit hall — actually the three boxes combined. The hall can be divided into three sections of similar size—from roughly 14,300 to 14,800 square feet in size.
A mezzanine level has four small breakout rooms. On the top floor, ballrooms of about 13,000 square feet flank each side of the center. Each of the two ballrooms can be broken into five meeting rooms. Between the two ballrooms, facing the river, is a 3,000-square-foot River View room.
On the ballroom level, meeting rooms open to balconies with views of the riverfront and the busy Ohio River beyond. On ground level, later next year, a 12,000-square-foot pavilion will be built between the center and the river.
Bluegrass, barbecue and barges
Well-known to many as the state’s “ground zero” of sorts for bluegrass music and barbecue, Owensboro is also a long-time shipping hub on the Ohio River. The revitalized riverfront development and new convention center will showcase all three aspects of its river city heritage.
As part of the overall revitalization effort, the city’s International Bluegrass Music Museum will move from its current site to a larger, free-standing building in the new riverfront district.
“Barbecue and bluegrass music will be at the center of a lot of things we do down here,” said Shannon Wetzel, executive director of the Owensboro Convention and Visitors Bureau. “Live bluegrass music is always available for any group that wants entertainment. Many visitors to a city today want to embrace the local traditions and cuisine — we plan to make that very easy for meeting delegates to do.”
“We’ve brought together a group of local leaders, bureau executives and Global Spectrum executives under the term “Team Owensboro” to make sure we deliver a memorable guest experience,” said Wetzel. “The bureau will be active in assisting with guest services, housing bureaus, shuttles between hotels and the center, dinearounds, that sort of thing.”
