Northern Ohio stretches along Lake Erie from Cleveland, hub of the northeast with its growing medical, biotech and export industries, to Toledo in the west. Conveniently located in between are the outdoor playgrounds of the Lake Erie Shores and Islands. The region is abuzz with change. It will be welcoming two of four Ohio casinos, while two high-profile attractions, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame, have both announced expansion plans, and theme parks and attractions have also been growing.
Greater Cleveland
If Cleveland’s nickname in earlier decades of the "Comeback Kid" as it climbed out from its industrial past was relevant then, it is even more so today.
"Great things are coming to Cleveland. So many building projects are planned or under way," says Tami Brown, vice president, marketing for Positively Cleveland. "The economic picture is strong and we’re in a recovery mode."
Attendees enjoy Cleveland, Brown adds.
"They go home happy. There is so much here that is all very accessible and very affordable," she says, mentioning the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Playhouse Square—the country’s second-largest performing arts center—and the arts institutions and museums of University Circle. Cleveland Metroparks Zoo is another popular attraction, and its new $25 million African Elephant Crossing debuted in May.
Downtown is getting a new convention center integrated with a permanent medical mart, plus one of the four casinos approved by Ohio voters in November 2009. In addition, several new boutique hotels have been announced in recent months.
Work began in early January on the $425 million Cleveland Medical Mart & Convention Center (MMCC), with a 100,000-square-foot mart and more than 320,000 square feet of meeting and exhibit space. It is scheduled to open in September 2013 on the site of the 85-year-old Cleveland Convention Center, which took its last groups in the fall.
In the meantime, Cleveland’s largest convention spaces are the 1.6 million-square-foot International Expo (I-X) Center and downtown’s 15,000-seat Wolstein Center at Cleveland State.
Within a 10-minute walk of the convention center site are 4,000 hotel rooms, including a Marriott with 17,000 square feet of meeting space and a Crowne Plaza with 27,000 square feet of function space.
Just to the south is Tower City Center, an earlier recommendation for the convention center site. It has 100 stores and restaurants, two hotels—the Renaissance Cleveland, with 62,000 square feet of meeting space and The Ritz-Carlton, Cleveland, with 19,000 square feet of function space—and is connected by walkway to the Indians’ Progressive Field and the Cavaliers’ Quicken Loans Arena.
On a site adjacent to Tower City, a partnership that includes Caesars Entertainment (formerly Harrah’s Entertainment) hopes to start work on a $600 million casino this year and open the facility in 2013. They are also exploring opening a temporary casino in the historic Higbee building that could open this year.
New downtown hotels are also planned, including a 150-room Aloft with 3,000 square feet of meeting space that is slated to open in 2013 as part of the $275 million first phase of the Flats East Bank mixed-use project. Additionally, a 140-room Kimpton hotel is planned in the Shoefield Building, and the former historic Tudor Arms Hotel is undergoing a $22 million transformation and is expected to reopen this year as a Doubletree.
Meanwhile, the former Skyline Hotel & Conference Center was rebranded the Crowne Plaza Cleveland South–Independence last year following a $4 million renovation; the Sheraton Cleveland Airport Hotel at Cleveland-Hopkins International Airport completed a $3.5 million renovation last year and added a 2,500-square-foot ballroom; and the Cleveland Airport Marriott recently completed a renovation.
Another major meetings hotel is the 299-room InterContinental Cleveland, with 35,000 square feet of meeting space on the grounds of the city’s largest employer, the Cleveland Clinic, four miles from downtown.
Also managed by InterContinental on the clinic campus are two other hotels: the 162-unit InterContinental Suites Cleveland, which will complete a major renovation in May, and the 231-room Cleveland Guesthouse.
Akron
Forty miles south of Cleveland, Akron is home to Goodyear and long ago was dubbed "Tire City" and the "Rubber Capital."
"We are focusing our resources and time on attracting biomedical and pharmaceutical events," says Jim Mahon, marketing director at the Akron/Summit County CVB, who notes that the city’s primary venue, downtown’s 123,000-square-foot Knight Center, is adjacent to the Akron Biomedical Corridor.
The CVB manages the center and Greystone Hall across the street. The historic former Masonic temple, which has a ballroom for 200, a 600-seat theater and several meeting rooms, is ideal for breakout space, Mahon says.
Two of the area’s meetings hotels are within walking distance of the Knight Center: the 274-room Akron City Centre Hotel, with 16,000 square feet of meeting space, and the University of Akron’s 65-room Quaker Square Inn, with 60,000 square feet of meeting space. The complex, a remodeled Quaker Oats factory, also contains student housing.
The Sheraton Suites Akron/Cuyahoga Falls is another meetings property, and west of town is the Hilton Akron/Fairlawn and the adjacent Doubletree Hotel Akron Fairlawn, a former Four Points hotel that was reflagged last April following renovations.
Cleveland and Akron together were chosen last year to host the 2014 International Gay Games, expected to bring in an estimated 12,000 participants and 100,000 spectators.
"We continue to position Greater Akron for sporting events. This is a great honor and opportunity," Mahon says.
Located on the Cuyahoga River, Akron attractions include the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail and the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Ohio’s only national park, which includes the group-equipped Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad.
Other off-site venue choices include Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens, the former estate of Goodyear cofounder F.A. Seiberling; the Akron Art Museum, which was expanded three years ago; the Akron Civic Theater, Hale Farm & Village; and the American Toy Marble Museum.
Canton
Canton boasts such landmarks as the NFL Pro Football Hall of Fame and the William McKinley Presidential Library & National Monument. In December, the Hall of Fame announced a $23.5 million expansion, increasing in size from 83,000 to 124,000 square feet. Expected to open in 2013, its 50th anniversary, it will include additional meeting and event space.
Major area meeting facilities include the multipurpose, 5,000-seat Canton Memorial Civic Center and the IACC-certified Professional Education and Conference Center at Kent State University, which can handle groups of 600.
"We target mainly association and religious groups," says Mary Vlahos, convention sales manager of the Canton Stark County CVB, who adds that the city was happy to host the Ohio Society of Association Executives last August for the first time in 13 years. "Everything in downtown is within walking distance, including the McKinley Grand Hotel across from the National First Ladies Library and the Canton Classic Car Museum. We have First Fridays every month, which is very popular, highlighting the Arts District and our unique restaurants."
The Cultural Center for the Arts, home of ballet, symphony, opera and theater groups, and the Canton Museum of Art are near the civic center.
A new city event venue opened last March: Gervasi Vineyards, featuring a winery and Italian bistro in a converted barn as well as a 7,000-square-foot event pavilion.
Lake Erie Shores & Islands
The Lake Erie Shores and Islands delivers a year-round playground, with waterparks, fishing and other recreational activities, and more than 8,000 hotel rooms along 150 miles of coastline. Its mainland area spans 60 miles from Vermilion to Genoa.
According to the Lake Erie Shores & Islands, the area’s CVB, the largest meetings facilities are at the 884-room Kalahari Resort Sandusky, with 95,000 square feet of meeting space, an animal park and indoor and outdoor waterparks, and the 240-room Sawmill Creek Resort, featuring golf, a marina and 50,000 square feet of meeting space.
The African-themed Kalahari, Ohio’s largest hotel, is expected to begin work this spring on a $37 million expansion that will more than double its meeting space to 210,000 square feet. The resort marked its fifth anniversary last May with the opening of the Safari Outdoor Adventure Park, offering a zip-line tour, a ropes course and climbing walls.
The coast boasts four indoor and two outdoor waterparks. In addition to the Kalahari, other meetings-ready properties with waterparks are the Quality Inn & Suites Rainwater Park, the Caribbean-themed Castaway Bay and the Great Wolf Lodge Sandusky.
According to Amanda Smith Rasnick, CVB group sales coordinator, popular activities for groups include island hopping trips to South Bass Island and Kelleys Island, tours of wineries and museum tours.
Toledo
Known for its standout Toledo Museum of Art and the Toledo Zoo, both featuring event space, the city now celebrates what Destination Toledo calls "a trifecta of entertainment"—three adjacent venues in its downtown core.
The $105 million, 8,000-seat multipurpose Huntington Center, home to the new Toledo Walleye hockey team, opened in fall 2009. It is attached to the SeaGate Convention Centre, the city’s primary venue, with 75,000 square feet of exhibit space. Next door is Fifth Third Field, home of the Mud Hens baseball team.
"We are targeting large religious groups, direct marketing groups, sports groups and any type of association that may need more space than the SeaGate can host," says Julie Bolfa, Destination Toledo’s convention sales manager. "They can use it for ceremonies and exhibits, or maybe just attend a hockey game or concert. It’s great to have the added space."
The 400-room Park Inn Toledo is attached to the SeaGate and close by is the 241-room Crowne Plaza.
Other meetings properties include the Hilton Toledo & Dana Conference Center, an IACC-certified facility on the University of Toledo campus; the Holiday Inn/Splash Bay Indoor Water Park; and the Maumee Bay Lodge & Conference Center, with golf in a state park. The university also has the 30,000-square-foot Sylvania Sports & Exhibition Center.
The city is awaiting its $250 million casino, Hollywood Casino-Toledo, expected to open in the first half of 2012. Penn National Gaming broke ground on the facility in August across from the Maumee River downtown.
"The casino will bring the added dimension of a major entertainment destination that would be invaluable to any city," says Cathy Miller, interim president of Destination Toledo.
Miller says the CVB will soon launch a new website with added features for planners, including one in which groups will be able to build their own pages for attendees.
Toledo has a range of off-site venues. Groups can gather at the Erie Street Market, housed in the heart of the old Civic Auditorium; the Franciscan Theatre and Conference Center of Lourdes College; the Maumee Indoor Theatre; or the Valentine Theatre. They can also meet at Imagination Station (science center), Schedel Arboretum and Gardens, or Snooks Dream Cars, a 1940s Texaco gas station with an extensive auto collection.
Home to Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, located 25 miles south of Toledo, has a historic downtown and a number of museums, and is known for its annual Swamp Arts Festival each September. It has meeting venues at the university and a handful of meetings hotels, and can accommodate groups of up to 600.
Tony Bartlett is a frequent contributor to Meetings Focus.
