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Only a couple of months after ground breaking and with construction well underway, the new conference venue that will be part of Exhibition Place in Toronto, Canada has received an official name. The Council of the City of Toronto has approved a multi-year sponsorship/naming rights agreement between Exhibition Place and MTS Allstream, Inc., a Canadian communications company famous four its Allstream brand. The new facility, which will add an additional 160,000 Square Feet of meeting/exhibition space to Exhibition Place—home to the Direct Energy Centre, Ricoh Coliseum and BMO Field—has been christened: Allstream Centre – A Conference & Convention Centre at Exhibition Place.

"We are pleased to announce that our facility will be referred to as the Allstream Centre as of summer 2009," said, Joe Pantalone, Deputy Mayor of Toronto and Exhibition Place Chair. "This relationship with Allstream is another major step toward world-class excellence in the facilities and services offered at Exhibition Place. With the support of MTS Allstream, the Allstream Centre will be a showplace of cutting-edge technology as well as North America’s best conference and convention destination."

The 10-year agreement offers Allstream exposure on signage throughout the venue, and a technology showcase area. Full details of the arrangement will be made public by Summer 2009, when the venue is scheduled to open.

"This is another example of our commitment to being actively involved in the communities in which our employees and customers work and live," said John MacDonald, President, Enterprise Solutions Division, MTS Allstream. "Allstream Centre will be a wonderful venue to showcase our state-of-the-art service and technology capabilities, and we are extremely proud to have our name on such a prominent and important building in the city."

The conference center is actually a transformation of the existing Automotive Building, and will be built within the heritage façade of that facility, incorporating the Art Deco elements of its original 1929 design. Meeting space in the venue is planned to exceed square feet, including a 44,000-square-foot divisible ballroom with a capacity of 3,000 attendees and 20-state-of-the-art meeting rooms, which is in addition to the existing 22 meeting rooms in the Direct Energy Centre.

The Allstream Centre – A Conference & Convention Centre at Exhibition Place will also feature panoramic views of Lake Ontario and natural light throughout the lobby, pre-function and meeting room spaces. Consultations with meeting and convention planners and industry partners have resulted in a user-friendly, environmentally responsible design. Upon completion in spring 2009, meeting venue the first LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver Conference Centre in Canada.

Reaching a naming rights agreement with a communications provider may also have other benefits to meeting attendees. MTS Allstream plans to develop unique and innovative communication technologies throughout the expanding Exhibition Place complex.  "Our goal with this relationship is to inspire visitors to consider new communications technologies that will transform how we conduct conferences—and business in general— in the years to come," said MacDonald. "We also look forward to being a part ofExhibition Place’s environmental and energy conservation initiatives, a mandate that our company shares."

Exhibition Place, a 192–acre multi-use campus, features expo, trade, and banquet centers, theater and music buildings, parkland, sports facilities, and a number of civic, provincial, and national historic sites. It is considered Canada’s largest entertainment and meeting venue, attracting over 5.2 million visitors and convention attendees per year. The inception of the new conference center came about from a study conducted by the Board of Governors of Exhibition Place that concluded additional meeting rooms and ballrooms were needed for future growth. Exhibitions, meetings and conventions may utilize the Conference Centre as a stand alone venue or in combination with the adjacent 1-million-square-foot Direct Energy Centre complex—Canada’s largest exhibition, event and convention center. The Allstream Centre – A Conference & Convention Centre at Exhibition Place will be connected to Direct Energy Centre via an underground walkway, offering attendees year round, climate controlled access from the exhibition halls and underground parking facilities.