Kalahari Resorts and Conventions owners the Nelson family and company executives, along with Deputy Secretary Sarah Klavas of the Wisconsin Department of Tourism, gathered with more than 100 attendees to break ground on the company’s convention center expansion at its Wisconsin Dells resort.
Scheduled to open in September 2019, the convention center expansion will add 112,000 square feet of space to its existing facilities, bringing the convention center footprint to 212,000 square feet. The expansion will include a 52,000-square-foot ballroom that will join the facility’s existing 20,560-square-foot and 17,200-square-foot ballrooms, as well as 10 additional meeting rooms, for a total of 45 meeting rooms.
The resort does not plan to expand its current offering of 756 guest rooms, a decision expected to bolster business for other lodging options in the area with its spillover from meetings and events.
“When we first opened Kalahari, we had to work hard to create an experience where a convention center and indoor waterpark could exist together,” said Travis Nelson, owning family member of Kalahari Resorts and Conventions. “This model has been a splendid success and is now a vital part of any indoor waterpark in the industry today.”
For nearly two decades, the Kalahari Resorts and Conventions teams nationwide have leveraged more than 400 years of combined meeting experience to host more than 22,000 groups, resulting in more than 1.4 million group rooms booked.
The expansion at the Wisconsin Dells resort is the first in the company’s recently announced efforts to enhance the meeting experience at locations nationwide. Plans are in place to more than double the Pocono Mountains’ property convention facilities with groundbreaking scheduled for 2018.
Additionally, the announced Round Rock, Texas, offering will feature a 200,000-square-foot convention center when the property opens in 2020.