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The North Carolina Meetings industry will ring in the New Year with a state-of-the-art Convention Center. With construction completed the new Wilmington Convention Center—the “New Center of Attention” on the North Carolina coast—will celebrate an official grand opening January 13-15, 2011, complete with a ribbon cutting ceremony led by Mayor Bill Saffo, public tours and a closing night gala banquet, all of which will occur concurrently with BizTech, a regional business and technology expo and conference sponsored by the Wilmington Business Journal.

“As one of North Carolina’s favorite vacation destinations, we encourage Wilmington Convention Center visitors to come early and stay late to experience our historic charm, nationally recognized beaches and business made casual,” said Susan Eaton, General Manager, Wilmington Convention Center.

The multi-purpose venue, located in historic downtown Wilmington along the two-mile Riverwalk, had has already initiated a soft opening for the facility in November with the Cape Fear Wedding Show, as well as other events and a lively Facebook following. The building is the largest convention center on the North Carolina coast, boasting 107,000 square feet of function space and “green” elements designed toward LEED certification. The facility features a 30,000-square-foot Exhibit Hall, 12,000-square-foot ballroom, over 15,000 square feet of pre-function space and nearly 6,000 square feet of additional meeting space.   

Given its coastal location and the Wilmington's rich seafaring past, the facility fittingly bears a maritime theme and décor including curved exterior and interior elements which resemble sails, waves and massive hulls of ships. Seaworthy ceiling beams made from western red cedar, a wood used in traditional ship building, are featured throughout the convention center. In addition, historical artwork, spanning a period of more than 100 years that captures the heyday of Wilmington as an industrial and  military port, are exhibited in several of the meeting spaces, creating a unique and compelling setting for conventions, meetings, trade shows and other events. 

In addition, Wilmington’s temperate coastal climate presents opportunities for year-round outdoor and riverfront gatherings, and using this attribute to its advantage, the Wilmington Convention Center integrated into its design a unique 12,000 square-foot waterfront event lawn.  

Additional features of the convention center include a full-service banquet kitchen featuring SAVOR catering by SMG, a 578-space parking deck, loading docks, ramp with Exhibit Hall access, 30-foot ceilings and unique lighting systems as well as easy access to three beach communities and approximately 8,000 hotel rooms. More than 75 bookings, representing a full range of events, have reportedly been secured. Wilmington Convention Center ha capabilities for 25-to-2,000 attendees. “We are proud of our new convention center and look forward to continuing the momentum we have seen,” added Eaton.