Washington Convention Center
Encyclopedia
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...
located in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
owned and operated by the Washington Convention and Sports Authority
Washington Convention and Sports Authority
The Washington Convention and Sports Authority is an organization based in Washington, D.C. which owns the D.C. Armory, Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, and Nationals Park. The WCSA is governed by a board of directors consisting of nine appointees...
(WCSA). Designed by Atlanta
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
-based architecture firm Thompson, Ventulett, Stainback & Associates
Thompson, Ventulett, Stainback & Associates
tvsdesign, formerly known as Thompson, Ventulett, Stainback & Associates or TVS, is an international architecture and interior design firm in the areas of planning, architecture, interior design and sustainable design...
, the convention center is located in a superblock
City block
A city block, urban block or simply block is a central element of urban planning and urban design. A city block is the smallest area that is surrounded by streets. City blocks are the space for buildings within the street pattern of a city, they form the basic unit of a city's urban fabric...
bounded by Mount Vernon Square
Mount Vernon Square
Mount Vernon Square is a city square in the Northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C. It is located where the following streets would otherwise intersect: Massachusetts Avenue, New York Avenue, K Street, and 8th Street NW....
and 7th
7th Street (Washington, D.C.)
There are four north-south arteries in Washington, D.C. named Seventh Street that are differentiated by the quadrants of the city in which they are located. Historically, 7th Street has been a main north-south road in Washington, being the main route for travelers and farmers coming into the city...
, 9th, and N streets, N.W.
Washington, D.C. (northwest)
Northwest is the northwestern quadrant of Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States, and is located north of the National Mall and west of North Capitol Street...
It is served by the Mount Vernon Square station on the Yellow
Yellow Line (Washington Metro)
The Yellow Line of the Washington Metro consists of 17 rapid transit stations from Huntington to Fort Totten. The line terminates at the Mount Vernon Square station during peak hours.Peak hours are 5 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Service is extended to the Green Line stations during...
and Green
Green Line (Washington Metro)
The Green Line is one of five heavy rail subway lines that constitute the Washington Metro rapid transit system in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. The Green Line consists of 21 stations, with termini at Branch Avenue and at Greenbelt. The Green Line runs through Prince George's County,...
lines of the Washington Metro
Washington Metro
The Washington Metro, commonly called Metro, and unofficially Metrorail, is the rapid transit system in Washington, D.C., United States, and its surrounding suburbs. It is administered by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority , which also operates Metrobus service under the Metro name...
. It was completed in 2003.
Major events
Six of the nine official inaugural balls for the 2005 second inauguration of George W. BushSecond inauguration of George W. Bush
The second inauguration of George W. Bush as the 43rd President of the United States took place on Thursday January 20, 2005. The inauguration marked the beginning of the second term of George W. Bush as President and Dick Cheney as Vice President. Ailing Chief Justice William Rehnquist...
were held at the convention center.
In 2006, the Council of the District of Columbia
Council of the District of Columbia
The Council of the District of Columbia is the legislative branch of the local government of the District of Columbia. As permitted in the United States Constitution, the District is not part of any U.S. state and is instead overseen directly by the federal government...
approved legislation naming the then-Washington Convention Center in honor of the city's first home rule
District of Columbia home rule
District of Columbia home rule is a term to describe the various means by which residents of the District of Columbia are able to govern their local affairs...
mayor, the late Walter E. Washington. In 2008, the WCSA Board of Directors agreed to expand the newly built convention center by 75000 square feet (6,967.7 m²).
Six of the 10 official balls of the 2009 Presidential Inauguration of Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
took place there, including the first-ever Neighborhood Ball.
The Center served as the principal site of the 2010 Nuclear Security Summit
2010 Nuclear Security Summit
The 2010 Nuclear Security Summit was a summit held in Washington, D.C., on April 12 and 13, 2010. The Summit focused on how to better safeguard weapons-grade plutonium and uranium to prevent nuclear terrorism.-Overview:...
hosted by President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
.
On November 10, 2011, ground was broken on the 14-story Washington Marriott Marquis, a $520 million, four-star, 1,175-room "convention center headquarters hotel" with more than 100000 square feet (9,290.3 m²) of meeting room space.
The old Washington Convention Center
The previous Washington Convention Center was located one block southwest at 909 H Street NW, occupying the city block bounded by New York AvenueNew York Avenue (Washington, D.C.)
New York Avenue is one of the diagonal avenues radiating from the White House in Washington, D.C. It is a major east-west route in the city's Northwest and Northeast quadrants and connects downtown with points east and north of the city via Cheverly, Maryland, the John Hanson Highway and the...
, 9th Street, H Street, and 11th Street. Construction on the center began in 1980, and it opened on December 10, 1982. At 800000 square feet (74,322.4 m²), it was the fourth largest facility in the United States at the time. However, during the 1980s and 1990s, numerous larger and more modern facilities were constructed around the country, and by 1997 the Washington Convention Center had become the 30th largest facility.
After being replaced by the new Walter E. Washington Convention Center, the old convention center was imploded
Implosion
Implosion is a process in which objects are destroyed by collapsing on themselves. The opposite of explosion, implosion concentrates matter and energy....
at approximately 7:30 a.m. on December 18, 2004. Until 2011, the 10 acres (40,468.6 m²) site was a municipal parking lot that was also used as the intercity bus
Intercity bus
An intercity bus is a bus that carries passengers significant distances between different cities, towns, or other populated areas. Unlike a municipal bus, which has frequent stops throughout a city or town, an intercity bus generally has a single stop at a centralized location within the city, and...
terminal for Megabus and BoltBus
BoltBus
BoltBus is a bus line operating in the northeastern United States. It is a 50/50 venture between Greyhound Lines and Peter Pan Bus Lines providing service between New York City and other cities in the northeastern United States, utilizing the existing operating authority of Greyhound Lines...
. The site was also used for special events such as Cirque Du Soleil
Cirque du Soleil
Cirque du Soleil , is a Canadian entertainment company, self-described as a "dramatic mix of circus arts and street entertainment." Based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul in 1984 by two former street performers, Guy...
and the home of the Washington Kastles Stadium
Washington Kastles
The Washington Kastles, a professional tennis team based in Washington, D.C., are a franchise of the World TeamTennis Pro League and the 2009 WTT Champions. The Kastles entered the World TeamTennis League in 2008 and are owned by Mark Ein. The team is named for Kastle Systems, a security company...
. However, construction of a new $950 million complex called CityCenterDC
CityCenterDC
CityCenterDC is a real estate development consisting of two condominium buildings, two rental apartment buildings, two office buildings, a luxury hotel, and public park in downtown Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. It encompasses and covers more than five city blocks...
on the site began in March 2011.