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Happenings - Pennsylvania

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Eastern Pennsylvania

  • Scheduled to open in March 2011, the expanded Pennsylvania Convention Center (215.418.4700; www.paconvention.com) will feature more than 1 million square feet of function space, including 79 total meeting rooms and 528,000 square feet of contiguous exhibit space. Capable of hosting large trade shows or two major conventions simultaneously, the expansion also introduces the East Coast’s largest ballroom, at 55,400 square feet. The expansion continues to spur ancillary economic development, including new and renovated hotels.
  • Following the 2009 openings of Kimpton’s 230-room Hotel Palomar Philadelphia (215.563.5006; www.hotelpalomar-philadelphia.com), the 135-room aloft Philadelphia Airport (267.298.1700; www.starwoodhotels.com) and a 92-room Four Points by Sheraton Philadelphia City Center (215.496.2700; www.starwoodhotels.com/fourpoints), this year, the meetings-ready, 202-room Le Meridien Philadelphia (215.422.8200; www.starwoodhotels.com) is expected to debut in June.
  • Offering 92,000 square feet of total meeting space, the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown (215.625.2900; www.marriott.com) recently completed a makeover of its 1,408 rooms.
  • This November, the new five-story, 100,000-square-foot National Museum of American Jewish History (215.923.3811; www.nmajh.org) will open steps from Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell.
  • In Bucks County, the historic Black Bass Hotel (215.297.9260; www.blackbasshotel.com) recently reopened after a two-year renovation. The hotel’s Canal Suite, with its own tavern, hosts meetings and special events.
  • In Newtown, Homewood Suites by Hilton (215.860.5080; www.homewoodsuites1.hilton.com) opened a 104-suite hotel with 1,700 square feet of meeting space.

Central Pennsylvania

  • In State College, several properties recently completed guest room renovations, including the 102-room Toftrees Golf Resort & Conference Center (814.234.8000; www.toftrees.com), the 186-room Days Inn Penn State (814.238.8454; www.lioncountrylodging.com/daysinn) and the 120-room Hampton Inn State College (814.231.1590; www.hamptoninn.com).
  • Opening this spring just minutes from the Lancaster County Convention Center in downtown Lancaster, the boutique 75-room Cork Factory Hotel (717.735.3856; www.urbanplacelancaster.com) will feature eight luxury suites and more than 6,000 square feet of meeting and event space.
  • Scheduled to open this June, the Appalachian Trail Museum (www.atmuseum.org) in Pine Grove Furnace State Park will be the nation’s first hiking museum dedicated to this famed trail, which stretches 2,200 miles from Georgia to Maine. The facility will be housed in a 200-year-old mill located two miles from the trail’s mid-point.
  • The Army Heritage Center Foundation (717.258.1102; www.armyheritage.org) is scheduled to open a permanent Visitor and Education Center in Carlisle in late 2010. The facility will include exhibit space and a 600-seat multipurpose room for conferences and events.

Western Pennsylvania

  • The 185-room Fairmont Pittsburgh (800.441.1414; www.fairmont.com/pittsburgh) opened in late March, one block from the Cultural District. The property has 12,000 square feet of meeting space, a 6,000-square-foot ballroom, a restaurant, a spa, a fitness center and a bar.
  • The Pittsburgh Penguins’ new home, the 720,000-square-foot Consol Energy Center (penguins.nhl.com), is scheduled to open this fall, including an adjacent 142-room Cambria Suites (301.592.5000; www.choicehotels.com). Replacing the Mellon Arena, the multiuse facility, seating 18,087 for hockey, will be the country’s first LEED-certified NHL arena.
  • Embassy Suites Pittsburgh International Airport Hotel (412.269.9070; www.embassysuites1.hilton.com) completed an $8 million guest room renovation in November, including high-speed wireless service in all 223 suites and the lobby. The hotel also upgraded its meeting facilities and opened a new restaurant, Cafe Zest.
  • The 65,000-square-foot, LEED-certified August Wilson Center for African American Culture (412.258.2700; www.augustwilsoncenter.org) debuted in Pittsburgh last fall, featuring a 486-seat theater, galleries, a bookstore, a cafe and space for education and research.
  • The Radisson Hotel in Monroeville reopened as the 191-room Doubletree Pittsburgh/Monroeville Convention Center (412.373.7300; www.doubletree1.hilton.com). Adjacent to the new 100,000-square-foot Monroeville Convention Center, the hotel offers 17,000 square feet of meeting and banquet facilities, plus 10,000 square feet of additional convention center space.