The Tinley Park Convention Center gave potential clients a sneak peak at its expansion project last week with a special hard hat tour through its additional 58,000-square-feet of conference space scheduled to be finished by early summer.
The tour was a cold one as visitors walked through the unfinished, cinder block and steel framed rooms, but tour guides tried to fill in the blanks so participants could envision the finished product.
Poster boards along the tour explained the different features of the expansion and how they can accommodate the needs of large conventions.
Jennifer Spero, manager of convention services, said collapsible walls between the rooms will allow for one large room with 58,000-square-feet of floor space.
She also pointed out the center’s large windows and tall ceilings that will fill the rooms with natural light. She explained where the additional meeting rooms will be, including the one to be named the Bremen Room after Tinley Park’s original name, New Bremen.
“My own feeling is that this is…going to be the diamond of the south suburban area,” said Tinley Park Mayor Ed Zabrocki. “It will attract, not only from Tinley Park, but the entire region.”
The Convention Center is a village project with a price tag of about $21.4 million. When finished, it will be operated by Mid-Con Hospitality Group, the current operator of the Convention Center and the connected Holiday Inn Select.
Reva Stillman, president of Mid-Con, said the hard hat tours for clients were important to let groups interested in booking the new space take a look at it.
“Tonight is to show our clients our progress and to show them where we are, what we’re doing, and what our plans are and how we can serve them,” she said.
In addition to the tours, local businesses like caterers, florists, and even Metra set up booths so clients could see what resources are available to help them host their events at the center.
While organizers of the National Council of Corvette Club’s 2011 Convention already booked dates at the convention center, they attended the event to see how construction was progressing.
With a guest list expected to exceed 1,000 people in late June, the club’s convention will be the first event to use the entire center once it is completed.
Hal Bellamy, the club’s President-elect, drove over from his home in Middlebury, Ind., to see how construction was coming along.
He said the center will work well for the convention because of its Midwest location and because of its free parking and available space for cars.
“The big reason the facility is perfect for us is we’ve got a lot of cars, a lot of trucks and trailers,” he said. “All of the parking here makes this a very superior place.”
In addition to parking outside, the center also provides ample space to park some cars inside during special events during the convention.
Dave Heinemann, governor of the club’s local chapter and director of the 2011 convention, said he is a little concerned the new expansion won’t be finished in time for the convention, but added he has been reassured by Mayor Zabrocki it will be ready.
Weather, poor soil conditions and a strike during peak construction season delayed work. The village approved an accelerated schedule that included shift work at the site to get the center finished by June 1.
Heinemann said he has booked more than 400 hotel rooms for the event so far and he is going to need more.
“It’s exciting,” he said. “It’ll be good for Tinley, good for the businesses, and it’ll be good for our organization because we’ll have a good attendance because of the central location.”
See more photos of the tour here.
