Business View Magazine - September 2016 97
developer to come in and do a hotel,” McCarvill ex-
plains. “So the Convention Center Authority decided to
develop our own hotel.
“In December 1992, the first piece, which was the
north garage with 1,800 spaces, went into service, and
the following year, the Convention Center came online
with 100,000 square feet of exhibit space, and about
another 40,000 square feet of meeting and pre-func-
tion space,” McCarvill continues. “And then, the year
after that, a 365-room Westin Hotel opened, owned
and operated by the Convention Center Authority. The
goal was to start from a very small base because the
Civic Center was a place for hockey and basketball, the
circus, and concerts. The plan was to make it into a le-
gitimate destination for conventions and trade shows
that could fit in that configured space. So, things stayed
in that configuration – just the Convention Center, the
garage, and the hotel until 2005.
“That year, the Convention Center Authority sold the
AT A GLANCE
WHO:
The Rhode Island Convention Center
WHAT:
A multi-purpose facility that houses con-
ventions, trade and consumer shows, exhibits,
receptions, banquets, meetings, concerts, and
sporting events.
WHERE:
Providence, Rhode Island
WEBSITE
:
