Cincinnati's convention center will close for 18 months. Here's what that will mean for Downtown

This is part of The Enquirer's Future of Downtown series.

Downtown Cincinnati's Duke Energy Convention Center is getting a face-lift soon. But to do so, it will have to shut completely for 18 months starting in late June or early July 2024. City and county officials, along with officials from Cincinnati Center City Development Corp., or 3CDC, confirmed to The Enquirer on Thursday that a full shutdown is required to get the construction done as quickly as possible. 3CDC said the $200 million renovation and expansion of Cincinnati's longtime convention center will be completed in time for convention events booked for January 2026.

"It will be done by then," said Steve Leeper, president and CEO of 3CDC. "We don't have a choice."

And now is the time to do it, officials agree.

"Doing nothing really is not an option," said Billy Weber, assistant city manager. "Operations [at the convention center] haven't recovered since the pandemic." For Cincinnati to become a regionally competitive city for bigger and better conventions − think medical or corporate conventions − upgrading the Duke Energy Convention Center is a must. At 55 years old, the last time it was renovated was in 2006. The city has been passed over for major events in favor of cities like Louisville, Columbus and Indianapolis, said Julie Calvert, president and CEO of Visit Cincy. "The lack of a headquarters hotel and the size and condition of the convention center deters people from choosing Cincinnati," she said. "Renovating our convention center district shows a signal that we are serious about our convention business here. Our product has lagged behind."

At stake: 'The future development of our city'

According to Visit Cincy, booked regional conventions and events, including those held at the Duke Energy Convention Center, generated $118 million in direct spending by attendees and $218 million in total economic impact last year.

It’s unclear how much of that revenue the region will forfeit while the convention center is closed for renovations.

Calvert told The Enquirer that her organization has long been an advocate for an upgraded convention center and new convention center hotel.

“What’s at stake here, really, is the future development of our city,’’ Calvert said, referring to the convention center project. “We are extremely bullish on the future of our city with a new convention center and headquarters hotel.’’

In 2022, the average attendance for events at the convention center was 480,000 people compared to 730,000 people a year on average between 2011 and 2019. For the next two years, there isn't as much on the books, according to the city. There will be 27 events hosted at the convention center across just 209 days this year, 11 of which are conventions. In 2024, 20 events are already scheduled, covering just 126 days. Ten will be conventions.

During the closure, the planned events for 2024 and 2025 will relocate to the Sharonville Convention Center 20 minutes north of downtown Cincinnati. In the meantime, the city will begin a procurement process to select a new convention center operator − something it hasn't done since 2010. (The current convention operator is OVG 360).

What will be the impact on Downtown tourism?

Leaders with both the city and county hope some of the regular events that Downtown Cincinnati hosts − and one-off attractions like a Taylor Swift concert − will bridge some of the financial gap lost by taking all convention-related events to Sharonville. Leisure travel to Cincinnati is up, but business travel hasn't rebounded to pre-pandemic levels, said Joe Pinto, president of the Cincinnati Hotel Association.

Larger hotels such as the Westin and Hyatt Regency can use their own event spaces to help attract business retreats and meetings, Pinto said.

Still, closing the convention center Downtown will have repercussions, some of which are hard to predict.

3CDC will reveal the new design of the convention center in August. (The initial conceptual design was released late last year. The undulating roof proposed for the Elm Street side of the building was too expensive, Leeper said.)

The updated concept was described to The Enquirer as "toned down:" The facade will be more boxy but it may feature stand-out architectural elements such as meshed siding or a translucent shell.

The project team plans to raise Elm Street to make the main entrance to the convention center more level with the street, increasing accessibility. They also may add a rooftop outdoor space.

The iconic LED Cincinnati sign, displayed on the western wall of the building, may go away because it's inflexible. It only does one thing, said Adam Gelter, 3CDC's executive vice president of real estate.

But this is just a conversation. The sign might stay after all, but it will depend on financing and the design of the convention center's exterior. Even if the sign is reproduced in some new variation, Gelter thinks the project team "can come up with a strategy that enables it to do different things in that same spirit."

"That side of the building is really important and we have to make sure it does something that introduces people to the city," Leeper added.3CDC plans to appear before the Cincinnati City Council and the Hamilton County Board of Commissioners in the fall with the full plan to finance and build the convention center and convention hotel next door.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: What is happening to Cincinnati's Duke Energy Convention Center?