Lexington’s Central Bank Center opens new, bigger exhibit hall. Business increases.
Crews were unloading supplies and equipment on Monday into the new, cavernous 100,000-square-foot exhibit hall at Central Bank Center in preparation for this weekend’s Central Kentucky Home and Garden Show.
The Home and Garden Show and hundreds of other events, exhibits, conventions and concerts had to cancel events last year due to the coronavirus.
Its return and the opening of the new exhibit hall — part of a multi-year, nearly $300 million expansion and renovation of Central Bank Center — is hopefully the beginning of the renewal of the convention center and Rupp Arena.
“We are going to see some momentum as the vaccines get deployed,” said Bill Owen, president and CEO of the Lexington Center Corporation, which oversees the Central Bank Center.
It’s been a trying year for Central Bank Center and all convention and event spaces across the country. The pandemic canceled or shuttered nearly all events in the convention center and Rupp Arena, leading to the furlough of more than 100 Central Bank Center staff and a restructuring of the renovation and expansion financing.
As part of that restructuring, Central Bank Center will have three years to ramp back up after coronavirus-related cancellations devastated its finances.
The Home and Garden show, which starts Friday night and runs through Sunday, is the first event to use the full 100,000 square feet. There have been two smaller events held in the new exhibit hall before the Home and Garden Show, Owen said.
The Home and Garden show previously had to use the Rupp Arena floor for its event. Now, it can hold its show in the new exhibit hall. The Rupp Arena gym floor will be hosting the Kentucky High School Athletic Association girls’ basketball tournament.
The new exhibit hall can be divided into three different halls. The previous exhibit space was only 66,000 square feet, too small for many potential conventions Lexington was trying to book.
Joe Fields, director of convention sales, said exhibit and convention business is starting to pick up as coronavirus cases dip and vaccinations become more widespread. Some upcoming events include Future Farmers of America and a Lutheran church convention.
“I’m booking into 2025,” Fields said.
Previously, Rupp Arena and the convention center shared the same dock or loading area. That was problematic when a large concert like U2 and a large convention were trying to unload equipment at the same time.
The new exhibit hall has its own loading docks separate from Rupp Arena, making it easier for staff to run events in both spaces, Fields said.
Business in Rupp Arena is also picking up. A Disney on Ice event scheduled for late April recently added dates after selling out.
By the end of May, three ballrooms and multiple smaller meeting rooms will be completed and ready for use, Owen said.
The renovation and expansion faced some setbacks and delays in its early days due to the relocation of utilities behind the property. But construction crews have been able to make up for the lost time.
The entire complex will be completed in January.
Owen said competition for conventions and meeting spaces has ramped up as many conventions resume.
Central Bank Center will now be better positioned to get that convention business.
“Competition is very fierce,” Owen said. “We are competing with a brand new product.”
This story was originally published April 5, 2021 at 2:46 PM.
