Baltimore Convention Center

Baltimore Convention Center
View from Pratt Street, 2007
Map
Address1 West Pratt Street
LocationBaltimore, Maryland
Coordinates39°17′07″N 76°37′02″W / 39.28538°N 76.61734°W / 39.28538; -76.61734
OwnerThe City of Baltimore
Built1977–1978 (?)
Opened1979
Renovated1996 (1979 wing)
Expanded1996
Construction cost
$200 million
Enclosed space
 • Total space1,225,000 square feet (113,800 m2)
 • Exhibit hall floor300,000 square feet (28,000 m2)
 • Breakout/meeting85,000 square feet (7,900 m2)
 • Ballroom32,000 square feet (3,000 m2)
Public transit accessConvention Center
Website
www.bccenter.org

The Baltimore Convention Center is a convention and exhibition hall located in downtown Baltimore, Maryland. The center is a municipal building owned and operated by the City of Baltimore.

The facility was constructed in two separate phases: the original center, with 425,000 square feet (39,500 m2) of exhibition and meeting space, opened in August 1979 at a cost of $51.4 million. A $151 million expansion, which increased the center's total size to 1,225,000 square feet (113,800 m2) was completed in April 1997.[1] The 752-room, city-owned Hilton Baltimore hotel opened in August 2008, connected to the convention center by an enclosed skywalk bridge.

In March 2016, the State of Maryland announced it was going to explore expanding the Baltimore Convention Center for an estimated cost of $600 million and build a new hotel attached to the expansion. As of August 2016, the proposal also included building a new arena. On February 4, 2020, it was reported by the Baltimore Business Journal that the proposed expansion will not occur as a revised cost estimate for just expanding the convention center is more than $1.5 billion so the proposal has been scaled back significantly to only modernize the convention center, not expand it as previously proposed.[2]

  1. ^ "The Baltimore Convention Center - About the Center". Archived from the original on 2005-11-23. Retrieved 2005-09-05.
  2. ^ Yeager, Amanda (2020-02-04). "Baltimore Convention Center expansion plans scaled back amid financial hurdles". Baltimore Business Journal. Retrieved 2020-02-04.