For Rent: One large room with a view, able to accommodate up to 2,000 people or approximately 100 exhibition booths.

Featuring a unique 270-degree view of Edmonton's scenic river valley, Hall D, the new addition to the Shaw Conference Centre (SCC), is quickly becoming a centre of attention.

Scheduled to open in the spring of 2006, Hall D is a glass-and-steel framed concrete structure that will overlook the North Saskatchewan River and boost the city's ability to draw major conventions to Edmonton. It will increase the conference centre's space by 26,900 sq. ft.

Meanwhile, another 28,000 sq. ft. of under-utilized SCC space will be redeveloped into a reception area - part of that comprises the space where Edmonton Economic Development Corp.'s (EEDC) offices were once housed. The extra square footage became available when the organization, which also manages the conference centre, relocated to the new World Trade Centre just down the street on Jasper Avenue.

At a sneak preview of the hall - still in the early construction stages with only the steel frame in place - last week, officials hailed the project, which they say will allow Edmonton to regain its foothold in the highly competitive convention marketplace.

Dan Riedlhuber photos, Business Edge
Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan, below, gets a "sneak peek" at the Shaw Conference Centre's new Hall D.

"What it (Hall D) does is in the North American context, it moves us up to the mid tier," EEDC president and CEO Allan Scott said. "There have been many, many cities in the United States that have added significant convention centre capacity over the last decade."

The $26.4-million development is the first expansion of the convention centre since it opened in 1983.

Once work is complete, the Shaw's total space will rise from 108,700 sq. ft. to 137,600 sq. ft. while major conference and exhibition space will jump from 82,000 sq. ft to 110,900 sq. ft., including 82,000 sq. ft. of continuous column-free space.

"What it means," said Scott, "is that when it's fully operational there will be $10 million of further economic impact for the city. Right now, the gross economic impact of the Shaw Conference Centre is $30 million and it will move up to $40 million."



Groups such as the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) and the Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy already have the Shaw back on their radar screens, said Cliff Higuchi, the conference centre's assistant general manager.

"The CAB, they left us a number of years ago, and told us that we didn't have enough space for their event. They suggested to us that if we expanded and had additional space for them to utilize, that we could potentially be put back on their roster," said Higuchi.

"The other group that has talked to us about their need for additional space here is the Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy," he added. "In one of their discussions with us in the past, they said that they'd like to use our existing space for their tradeshow but we did not have enough space here for some of their social events, so they're very interested in the project and the ability to bring all of their events here under one roof."

So far, construction, which began in July 2004, is just slightly behind schedule, EEDC officials said, primarily due to weather. But they're also confident that the project will still be completed on time.

"We're hoping it (the construction) will be complete in about a year from now in early 2006. We're taking bookings the latter part of the first quarter of 2006," said Scott.

Construction costs for the addition have been kept down due to the way the building was originally built, EEDC officials added.

"Part of the cost efficiency of this project is that we're using the existing footprint of the building. We did not have to go in and dig new foundations," said Higuchi. "The foundation was originally built to hold up Jasper Avenue on the north edge of the building."

Seventy per cent of the SCC was constructed to remain underground.

As it cascades down a massive sedimentary riverbank, the conference centre stays embedded in Grierson Hill because of a sophisticated anchoring system that includes tie-backs extending 225 feet into the earth at a 45-degree angle. Hall D, however, will be built above ground.

(Laura Severs can be reached at laura@businessedge.ca)