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Chicago—New meeting space in the windy city will be available ahead of schedule. The Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority (MPEA) has announced that the new McCormick Place West Building will open eight months earlyin July of 2007 instead of the originally-targeted opening of March 2008. This is great news for the convention, trade show and meetings industry, says Leticia Peralta Davis, chief executive officer of the MPEA, which owns and operates McCormick Place. This early opening will allow McCormick Place to book meetings and events that could not otherwise have been accommodated. We are already aggressively marketing these newly available dates and have begun negotiating with several potential customers.

The West Building will offer a high ratio of meetings to exhibit space and is highly flexible to meet the individual needs of a wide variety of events. The five-level facility will have a central concourse on each level that puts meeting rooms, the exhibit hall, business services and common areas in close proximity. Key features include flexible meeting space, a rooftop garden with covered terrace, a centralized transportation center and dedicated roadways for freight logistics. In total, the building will offer 470,000 square feet of exhibit space and 250,000 square feet of meeting space (more than 60 meeting rooms) and a 100,000-square-foot ballroom. We are excited to open the doors to this state-of-the-art facility eight months early," says David Causton, general manager of McCormick Place. Our current and potential customers will be pleased with the amenities that we offer and the innovative and unique design of the building.