144 Business View Magazine - October 2016
buildings, hotels, and retail shops. Tourist attractions,
such as the National Aquarium and the Maryland Sci-
ence Center, came onboard. Harborplace, a sprawling,
festival marketplace opened in 1980 and Baltimore,
itself, was becoming a major tourist destination. “All of
this was starting to draw visitors,” Daidakis concurs.
“The Inner Harbor was blossoming into a new attrac-
tion and we saw a need for our convention and trade
show business to grow, as well.”
So, in 1996, a $150 million overhaul of the Convention
Center began that included a renovation of the exist-
ing building and the addition of a lot more space. “We
tripled the size of the facility to be 300,000 square
feet of exhibit space and about 80,000 square feet
of meeting rooms,” Daidakis reports. “And we added
a ballroom because food and beverage service was
another opportunity for folks to stay in the convention
center and have social gatherings, as well. Today’s fa-
cility is a modern structure made of glass and steel
that gets flooded by natural sunlight. In addition, we
have a unique outdoor space, a 27,000 sq. ft. outdoor
terrace that is equipped with a drought resistant veg-
etative roofing pavilion, and a rain water recapturing
system. The terrace also has another garden that is
used by our executive chef for various specialty dishes
and cocktails.”
As Baltimore continues to re-define itself as a world-
class city, the Convention Center is trying to envision
its own next stage of development. “Now, we’re look-
ing at the potential of seeing if there’s a need to grow
again,” says Daidakis. “There’s a lot of competition in
our business and we need to continue to look forward
to see if there’s anything we can do to advance our
position in the city.”
