Boston Convention and Exhibition Center
Encyclopedia
The Boston Convention and Exhibition Center (BCEC) is the largest exhibition center
in the Northeast United States
, with some 516,000 square feet (about 4.8 hectare
s) of contiguous exhibition space. It is located on Summer Street
near the South Boston waterfront, Boston's World Trade Center, and across the harbor from Logan International Airport
. The main exhibition floor comprises three bays which can be isolated for separate shows or linked into one large space.
The center is about one block south of the World Trade Center station
on the MBTA Silver Line
, with direct connections to South Station
and Logan airport.
's New England Patriots
, Robert Kraft
, also tried unsuccessfully to turn the same parcel of land that the convention center is on into a new home stadium for the football team that would have been closer to Boston, but he was unable to get the surrounding neighborhoods to agree with the deal because of concerns about traffic.
The push for a new convention center in Boston came in the late 1990s when the semi-annual Macworld trade show, previously held in Boston each summer, moved to the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York City
. It was believed that this move was in part because no single Boston venue could contain the entire show. The center has been controversial because it is located in the South Boston Seaport which is some distance from the main concentration of hotels in Boston. However several new hotels have been planned or built near the convention center. The Massachusetts State Legislature authorized the BCEC under chapter 152 of the Acts of 1997, which also provided for redevelopment of the Springfield, Massachusetts convention center among other actions designed to balance the impact across the state. Chapter 152 authorized the acquisition by eminent domain of approximately sixty (60) acres of land in the Seaport area of Boston. A subsequent conflict with local politicians resulted in a change of the name of the area to the South Boston Waterfront. The Project was a joint venture of the Boston Redevelopment Authority and the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority, who employed Tishman Construction as its owner's representative on the project. The convention center itself opened in June 2004. That summer Macworld returned to Boston as the BCEC's first trade show, but the show's reduced size, due in part to lack of participation by Apple, relegated its 2005 meeting (its last) to the smaller Hynes Convention Center
in Boston's Back Bay.
With the opening of a new Westin headquarters hotel, the BCEC has staged comeback. In 2007, the convention center saw over 1.6 million attendees booking over 1 million hotel roomnights. This equates to an economic impact of over $890 million according to the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority's 2007 Annual Report.
The New England Auto Show, long a staple for the Bayside Expo Center in the Dorchester section of Boston, moved to the new BCEC and has signed on through 2009. This show is expected to bring in 90,000 attendees to the convention center. Also in 2007, the BCEC was honored with the 2007 Convention Center of the Year at the Event Solutions Spotlight Awards. Other big shows in 2007 were AIIM/On Demand, the Yankee Dental Congress, and eBay! Live. The BCEC's recent success has spurred further talks about expansion.
Concerns that the BCEC will destroy the market for the Hynes Convention Center
has so far proved unfounded as the smaller Hynes has seen a nearly 10% growth in bookings last year compared to 2006.
The new convention center was designed by Rafael Viñoly
Architects, New York City, in association with The HNTB Companies, Boston. It was completed in 2004. Shen Milsom & Wilke provided the information technology design, including a flexible, re-configurable telecom network.
Convention center
A convention center is a large building that is designed to hold a convention, where individuals and groups gather to promote and share common interests. Convention centers typically offer sufficient floor area to accommodate several thousand attendees...
in the Northeast United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, with some 516,000 square feet (about 4.8 hectare
Hectare
The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...
s) of contiguous exhibition space. It is located on Summer Street
Summer Street (Boston)
Summer Street in Boston, Massachusetts extends from Downtown Crossing in the Financial District, over Fort Point Channel, and into South Boston...
near the South Boston waterfront, Boston's World Trade Center, and across the harbor from Logan International Airport
Logan International Airport
General Edward Lawrence Logan International Airport is located in the East Boston neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts . It covers , has six runways, and employs an estimated 16,000 people. It is the 19th busiest airport in the United States.Boston serves as a focus city for JetBlue Airways...
. The main exhibition floor comprises three bays which can be isolated for separate shows or linked into one large space.
The center is about one block south of the World Trade Center station
World Trade Center (MBTA station)
The World Trade Center station is a transportation station in Boston, Massachusetts, on the MBTA's bus rapid transit Silver Line. The station is located on Congress Street at C Street/World Trade Center Avenue on the South Boston Waterfront...
on the MBTA Silver Line
Silver Line (MBTA)
The Silver Line is the only bus rapid transit line currently operated by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority . It operates in two sections; the first runs from Dudley Square in Roxbury to downtown Boston, Massachusetts and South Station, mostly via Washington Street, with buses...
, with direct connections to South Station
South Station
South Station, New England's second-largest transportation center , located at the intersection of Atlantic Avenue and Summer Street in Dewey Square, Boston, Massachusetts, is the largest train station and intercity bus terminal in Greater Boston, a prominent train station in the northeastern...
and Logan airport.
History
For short time the owner of the National Football LeagueNational Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
's New England Patriots
New England Patriots
The New England Patriots, commonly called the "Pats", are a professional football team based in the Greater Boston area, playing their home games in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts at Gillette Stadium. The team is part of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National...
, Robert Kraft
Robert Kraft
Robert K. Kraft is an American business magnate. He is the Chairman and was the Chief Executive Officer of The Kraft Group, a diversified holding company with assets in paper and packaging, sports and entertainment, real estate development and a private equity portfolio...
, also tried unsuccessfully to turn the same parcel of land that the convention center is on into a new home stadium for the football team that would have been closer to Boston, but he was unable to get the surrounding neighborhoods to agree with the deal because of concerns about traffic.
The push for a new convention center in Boston came in the late 1990s when the semi-annual Macworld trade show, previously held in Boston each summer, moved to the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. It was believed that this move was in part because no single Boston venue could contain the entire show. The center has been controversial because it is located in the South Boston Seaport which is some distance from the main concentration of hotels in Boston. However several new hotels have been planned or built near the convention center. The Massachusetts State Legislature authorized the BCEC under chapter 152 of the Acts of 1997, which also provided for redevelopment of the Springfield, Massachusetts convention center among other actions designed to balance the impact across the state. Chapter 152 authorized the acquisition by eminent domain of approximately sixty (60) acres of land in the Seaport area of Boston. A subsequent conflict with local politicians resulted in a change of the name of the area to the South Boston Waterfront. The Project was a joint venture of the Boston Redevelopment Authority and the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority, who employed Tishman Construction as its owner's representative on the project. The convention center itself opened in June 2004. That summer Macworld returned to Boston as the BCEC's first trade show, but the show's reduced size, due in part to lack of participation by Apple, relegated its 2005 meeting (its last) to the smaller Hynes Convention Center
Hynes Convention Center
The John B. Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Center located in Boston was built in 1988 from a design by architects Kallmann, McKinnell & Wood. It replaced a previous building, also a convention center, regarded as "ungainly." The 1988 design "attempted to relate in scale and materials to its...
in Boston's Back Bay.
With the opening of a new Westin headquarters hotel, the BCEC has staged comeback. In 2007, the convention center saw over 1.6 million attendees booking over 1 million hotel roomnights. This equates to an economic impact of over $890 million according to the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority's 2007 Annual Report.
The New England Auto Show, long a staple for the Bayside Expo Center in the Dorchester section of Boston, moved to the new BCEC and has signed on through 2009. This show is expected to bring in 90,000 attendees to the convention center. Also in 2007, the BCEC was honored with the 2007 Convention Center of the Year at the Event Solutions Spotlight Awards. Other big shows in 2007 were AIIM/On Demand, the Yankee Dental Congress, and eBay! Live. The BCEC's recent success has spurred further talks about expansion.
Concerns that the BCEC will destroy the market for the Hynes Convention Center
Hynes Convention Center
The John B. Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Center located in Boston was built in 1988 from a design by architects Kallmann, McKinnell & Wood. It replaced a previous building, also a convention center, regarded as "ungainly." The 1988 design "attempted to relate in scale and materials to its...
has so far proved unfounded as the smaller Hynes has seen a nearly 10% growth in bookings last year compared to 2006.
The new convention center was designed by Rafael Viñoly
Rafael Viñoly
Rafael Viñoly is an Uruguayan architect living in the United States.-Biography:He was born in Montevideo, Uruguay to Román Viñoly Barreto, and Maria Beceiro ....
Architects, New York City, in association with The HNTB Companies, Boston. It was completed in 2004. Shen Milsom & Wilke provided the information technology design, including a flexible, re-configurable telecom network.