The Detroit News
March 3, 2011
$221M upgrade will provide access to RiverWalk, add space for auto show
Oralandar Brand-Williams / The Detroit News
DetroitCobo Center is set to undergo a $221 million makeover, a long-awaited renovation that business and civic leaders said is crucial to boosting downtown and retaining the North American International Auto Show.
Two years after city officials relinquished oversight of the aging facility to a regional authority, officials Wednesday unveiled a facelift that is set to begin in July and wrap up in time for the 2014 show. The bond-funded project will encircle the facility in glass, add an atrium, provide sweeping views of the Detroit River and transform the concrete bowl that was Cobo Arena into a 40,000-square-foot ballroom.
The project doesn’t significantly increase the footprint of the 700,000-square-foot center. But it opens enough space to satisfy concerns of auto dealers who complained the center was too old and too small.
“You’ve listened….. You heard what we wanted and you did it,” said James Seavitt, president of the Detroit Auto Dealers Association and vice chairman of the show that adds about $500 million to the local economy.
The work is the first overhaul since a 1989 expansion. Authority members predicted it will convert a monolithic eyesore into a showcase that again makes Detroit a destination for conventions.
“Cobo is returning to the world stage as a premier convention center and meeting place,” said Larry Alexander, president of the Detroit Metro Convention and Visitors Bureau and chairman of the five-member Detroit Regional Convention Facility Authority.
“This facility was losing business to other convention centers around the country,” he said. “We’re already seeing some big dividends.”
Officials have complained for years that Cobo hasn’t aged well. Built in 1960, it’s the 19th largest convention center in the nation. But leaks and other problems scared away conventions, officials said. They couldn’t cite figures on Wednesday, but said Cobo is slated to host 40 major conventions in the next few years.
The auto show highlighted many of the center’s woes. Over the years, exhibitors and others said the center needed to expand to as much as 1 million square feet. The new plan adds 25,000 square feet and reconfigures existing space to create another 100,000 square feet for exhibitions.
It also will include a new hydraulic system that allows exhibits to transport and showcase cars on the second level of Cobo.
A high-tech computer-generated billboard will dominate the front of Cobo facing east to announce events. The reconfiguration also will add more meeting and breakout rooms and provide better access to the Detroit RiverWalk.
The authority will sell bonds to pay for the work and expects to repay them through revenues as well as liquor and hotel taxes.
Shirley Stancato, president and CEO of New Detroit, said the plans are “certainly another piece of the puzzle” to redefining Detroit.
“It’s exciting, it’s energizing,” said Stancato, who was among a crowd of about 125 to watch as the plans were unveiled at Cobo.
“It lets those of us on the ground know that the work we’re doing is not in vain.”
Arena to be replaced
The project also means the end for Cobo Arena, an iconic venue that was a destination for acts from KISS to James Brown in the 1960s and 1970s but whose popularity faded when newer venues opened in the late 1970s and 1980s.
Officials plan to take out the walls and remake the arena into a ballroom that features a glass wall and open-air terrace facing Hart Plaza.
Plans also call for a three-story glass atrium that links the main floor with a new entrance facing the river.
“It shows real progress,” said Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano. “There were a lot of naysayers. People said it wouldn’t happen. When you have vision, it pays off.”
The project is the third phase of major renovations since the authority took control in 2009. It follows $51 million in structural work to electrical systems, the loading dock and creation of 500 parking spaces.
Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel called the expansion “good news for the region” – especially since it ends talk about the auto show leaving for another venue.
“It’s a regional facility that has always been supported by the suburbs,” Hackel said.
“Most people were ready to give up on the auto show, but I’m glad they’re back with a vengeance.”
Detroit Councilman Kenneth Cockrel Jr. said he was “very impressed” with the renovations and called it a “great plan.”
He backed the transfer to a regional authority and said Wednesday’s announcement showed the decision “paid off.” The deal paid Detroit $20 million and took on existing debt, but some officials said that wasn’t enough money.
1,200 jobs to be created
Cobo was a flashpoint for city-suburban divisions for several months, in 2008 and 2009, until the city eventually agreed to the transfer.
“I think it was a decision that paid off for the city of Detroit and will pay off,” Cockrel said.
Joseph Abdoo, a member of the board, said the expansion will generate about 1,200 jobs.
“This is about jobs,” he said. “These are real jobs. There are already people working who otherwise wouldn’t be because of Cobo.”
W. Bernard White, the president of Detroit-based White Construction, said his firm already has people employed in some of the ongoing renovation projects at Cobo.
“The Cobo (Center) expansion is a great opportunity for Detroit-headquartered firms,” said White, who added that work had dried up for the construction industry because of the state’s weak economy.
Wayne Guillebeaux, Detroit’s representative on the authority, agreed.
“This is an engine for job and economic activity in our city,” said Guillebeaux. “It’s one of the most important things to happen downtown in years.”
bwilliams@detnews.com
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