Business View Magazine - October 2016 157
approved $187 million for five years to do just that –
renovate, replace, and improve the infrastructure that
we have here on the campus. So that is being done
and will probably be an ongoing and very strong Capi-
tal Improvement Plan.
“As for the future, we just completed what we call a
‘Campus Master Plan.’ We hired an outside company
and they came in and worked with us for about a year
doing surveys, doing feasibility studies, talking to our
clients, talking to our stakeholders, talking to our com-
petitors, and they have come to us with a template of
improvements and expansion-type items that we can
do in the next five, ten, fifteen years. So, we are now
socializing that, prioritizing, and we hope to be able
to go to the Board in the next year to get approval for
some funding.”
BVM: In addition to upgrading their technologies,
because planners are looking for the latest in Wi-Fi
and lighting and sound, a lot of convention centers
are also upgrading their sustainability practices.
Where does the OCCC stand regarding those types
of initiatives?
Canning:
In terms of sustainability, our newer facility,
the North-South building that opened in 2003, is actu-
ally the largest Existing Building LEED-Gold Certified
convention center in the world. We are constantly try-
