A project that could have cost $75 million if built new, cost just over $42 million because of green-thinking and planning. The state-of-the-art facility has 33,892 square feet of new meeting room space and a 28,638 square foot ballroom inside that is known as the Community Choice Credit Union Convention Center. The entire Iowa Events Center now boasts 226,000 square feet of total space, including 150,000 square feet of exhibit space, 37 meeting rooms and a 17,500 seat arena.

The $42,250,000 renovation boasts unique upgrades including an infinite amount of lighting capabilities. LED lights color wash the ceiling clouds to create a space unique to the client’s needs. Eight large projectors, one for each operable wall down the Grand concourse, display images that are 16’ tall by 30’ wide with the technology to display both static marketing logos and dynamic videos interacting with each projector separately. Each of the new 21 meeting rooms have cold water plumbed into each room.

Ninety-nine percent of the waste from the project was recycled with 8,500 tons from the demo diverted from the landfill. Local artists are also featured throughout the building, with an original 10’ x 20’Ding Darling cartoon panel salvaged from the original chapel and reinstalled in the East Lobby.

The Iowa Events Center will welcome a number of major events to the renovated space, including the Iowa Association of Business and Industry Annual Convention (June 2012), American Society of Animal Science/American Dairy Science Association Midwest Meeting (March 2013-March 2016), National Association of County Engineers Annual Convention (April 2013) and the Mary Kay Career Conference (March 2014), thanks to the expanded facilities.

“This project has been pivotal in that it allows us to draw more state, regional and national conventions to the area,” said Greg Edwards, Greater Des Moines Convention and Visitors Bureau President and CEO. “We are better able to accommodate these large groups and showcase to them everything we love about the city, from local shops to new dining hotspots to our arts and culture community.

The project’s design was a collaboration between OPN Architects and tvsdesign. OPN Architects is a holistic architectural, interior design and landscape architecture firm with offices in Des Moines and Cedar Rapids, Iowa. tvsdesign is a nationally recognized firm of stimulating design for convention centers and has designed more convention centers and other places of public assembly than any other firm.

To view a short video on the facility, visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEZnxHM1dI4&feature=youtu.be.

IOWA EVENTS CENTER SPECS
Total space: 226,000 sq. ft.
Total # of meeting rooms: 37
Largest exhibit space: 150,000 sq. ft.
Max classroom: 4,545
Max banquet: 6,270
Max theater: 17,000
Max reception: 10,000
Max 10x10 booths: 803
New meeting space: 33,892 sq. ft.
Ballroom: 28,730 sq. ft.