‘Spectacular.’ Get a first look inside the renovated Rupp Arena, Central Bank Center
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‘A new way for a new century’
A $310 million expansion and renovation of Lexington’s Central Bank Center, which includes Rupp Arena, will have a grand reopening on April 21.
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It’s just after lunch on a Wednesday in early April yet Levy Restaurants employees are already preparing for dinner -- cutting and plating desserts in the new, expansive kitchen in the renovated Central Bank Center.
The desserts are for a Commerce Lexington April 6 dinner in the center’s new ballroom.
With its extensive walk-in refrigerators and state-of-the-art equipment, the new kitchen is part of a $310 million renovation and expansion of Central Bank Center.
It’s a part of the renovated complex the public will likely never see.
But it’s a key part of a $310 million renovation and expansion of Central Bank Center, which includes the convention center and Rupp Arena. It’s roughly four times the size of the complex’s original 1976 kitchen.
“Food is so important,” said Bill Owen, president and CEO of Lexington Center Corporation, which oversees Central Bank Center. The quality of the food can determine if a convention will choose Lexington or go elsewhere.
Owen has overseen the renovation and expansion of the convention center that started in October 2018 and is now nearly complete. A grand reopening and open house is planned for April 21.
The expansion and renovation will allow the convention center to go after bigger conventions and will also make it easier to book multiple events at the same time, Central Bank Center staff said. The renovated space includes 100,000 square feet of exhibition space, up 51.5 percent from the previous 66,000 square feet. The ballroom space increased by 38.2 percent to 24,330 square feet from 17,000 square feet.
It has added hospitality suites to Rupp Arena, which can be used for the University of Kentucky men’s basketball program — Rupp’s most storied and long-time tenant— or for conventions or VIP space for concerts. Other improvements to Rupp include adding chair-back seats to much of the upper level —which has long been on the to-do list.
“What we have been able to do is take a 1976 building that has served the community for 45 years and create a venue and facility that I would put up against any facility opening today,” Owen said on a recent tour of the revamped space.
Easy to navigate, latest technology
The expansion and renovation has also allowed for technology upgrades and better alignment of the space.
Across from the kitchen through a service hallway is the center’s new ballrooms. Hot food can move directly from the kitchen to the ballrooms. Previously it was prepared by the Hyatt Regency, which is connected to the complex.
Not far from the kitchen is another logistical improvement -— separate loading docks for the convention center and Rupp Arena. Prior to the renovation, the two spaces had to share loading docks which created logistical nightmares that would gum up scheduling.
All the ballrooms and meeting rooms have the latest technology.
“It’s a blank canvas,” Owen said of the new ballroom. As Owen talked about the new ballroom space on April 6, a Central Bank staffer adjusted the lights from red to other colors. The audio visual system is state-of-the-art, another key feature conventions look for when choosing a site, Owen said.
The new design is also easy to navigate.
The 1976 building was expanded and renovated several times prior to the most recent expansion. Those previous expansions and renovations led to a mishmash of meeting rooms, ballrooms and exhibition halls on different floors.
“Wayfinding was difficult,” said Joe Fields, director of convention management.
The renovation allowed the convention center to streamline its space — ballrooms on the first floor, meeting rooms on the second floor and exhibition space on the third floor.
“It’s much easier for us to have multiple events at the same time,” Fields said of the new design. A local group could host a dinner or lunch in a ballroom while a convention can use the meeting rooms. Meanwhile, there could be a concert that night in Rupp.
Hospitality suites were also added to Rupp Arena. A Maker’s Mark hospitality room on the second floor can be used for UK games but also can be used by Central Bank Center. During the Lexington Comic Con in late March the Maker’s Mark hospitality room was used to serve food.
“We don’t have to use a meeting room to set up food service,” Fields said.
Another hospitality room can be used as VIP space for concerts and other events in Rupp Arena. Rupp Arena did not have the capacity to have VIP experiences for concerts prior to the most recent renovation, Owen said.
One of those hospitality rooms is a short walk to the second-floor of the nearly 500 space parking garage. Concert promoters are now able to bundle parking and access to the VIP club room for an additional cost.
Outdoor spaces
At the end of the hallway where the meeting rooms are now located is an outdoor terrace that faces the back of the Mary Todd Lincoln House and Main Street. Outdoor space is an amenity not many downtown convention centers have, Owen said.
It can be used for gatherings or meals.
A new two-story building in front of the convention center called the pavilion holds additional meeting rooms on its second floor. Between the pavilion and the convention center is an interior courtyard, which is still under construction. That courtyard can also be closed so conventions can use that space, Owen said.
“We have a convention this summer that is going to use it for exercise space, like yoga, in the mornings,” Fields said.
UK announced this week it will use part of the pavilion space for its sports journalism program. The 20,000 square foot studio, production center and research space will allow UK students, faculty and staff interested in sports media to work alongside UK’s media and marketing teams. The new studio is expected to open in the fall of 2023, UK officials said.
One of the most dramatic changes is a new exterior that includes glass walls and a skim that wraps around the outside—which allows light into the building. A convention center entrance on the west side has a grand staircase built with White Oak panels reclaimed from Secretariat’s paddock at Claiborne Farm.
A new three-story entrance for Rupp Arena on the east side of the building allows for dramatic views of downtown Lexington. A series of steps called “The Cat Walk” separates the convention center from the Hyatt Regency.
“It’s going to be spectacular,” Owen said of the three-story new entrance. In early April, construction crews were still putting finishing touches on the space. The April 21 grand reopening celebration will be held in the new Rupp entrance.
On the third floor is a pedestrian bridge to the Hyatt Regency. There is also access on the second floor of the Cat Walk to the Hyatt
The Cat Walk and parts of the first floor of the pavilion won’t be completed until this summer due to supply chain issues. A club house for UK on the east side of the building won’t be completed until October, Owen said.
The NBBJ and EOP Architects design also highlights Rupp Arena. Messer Construction was the general contractor for the renovation.
Lexington’s most well-known landmark—familiar to college basketball fans across the country— was easy to miss from Main or Vine streets. The convention center obscured all views of the arena.
Through extensive signage and design, it’s now obvious where one of basketball’s most well-known venues is located.
“We said all along we wanted to ‘Free Rupp’,” said former Mayor Jim Gray. “The Cat Walk also allows pedestrians to go from Main to Vine street. That pedestrian access gives it a much more accessible, urban feel. “
Ten years in the making
The plans for the renovation of the convention center and Rupp Arena started more than a decade ago under Gray.
During his first state of the city speech in 2011, Gray spoke about re imaging Rupp Arena, the convention center and the area around it to make it a more inviting space that will invigorate downtown and bring locals and visitors to the city’s core.
The convention center and Rupp Arena was no longer user friendly, he said. The complex was a giant box that was not built to interact with the city, Gray said. Gray convened a task force to look at a new entertainment district in that area.
“It was a 1960s urban renewal project that was past its prime,” Gray said. “You take a huge swath of land and clear cut it. Urbanists over time realized it was a very destructive model. Our whole plan for the Rupp Arts and Entertainment District was to correct some of those problems and make new connections.”
The convention center was also struggling to attract new conventions because it was too small. Longtime conventions like Lexington Comic Con couldn’t grow due to lack of space.
“It was already long in the tooth ten years ago,” Gray said.
Various renovations also made the building confusing.
“You couldn’t see Rupp Arena,” Gray said. “People didn’t know how to access the building. Inside it was byzantine and hard to navigate.”
A 2014 effort for a much more elaborate expansion of Rupp Arena and the convention center failed to gain traction in the General Assembly, mainly due to questions over how the $350 million project would be funded. UK was also initially not supportive. Others said the city was spending too much money on downtown Lexington.
Gray, who is the former CEO Gray Construction and now secretary of the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, said he learned construction isn’t the most difficult part of large, publicly funded projects —It’s lining up support from multiple groups.
“It’s a lot of different points of view that we had to navigate,” Gray said.
Gray didn’t give up.
“With these big projects, it takes more than one swing at the ball,” Gray said.
Eventually the state legislature agreed in 2016 to give $60 million in loans for a scaled back renovation and expansion. That $60 million in loans will be paid off using an increase in Fayette County hotel and motel taxes. The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government gave $30 million for the project. Other funding sources include a 15-year lease with the University of Kentucky. and revenues generated by conventions and events in Rupp Arena.
Construction finally started in October 2018.
COVID creates havoc on finances
Then the coronavirus hit in March 2020. All events including UK basketball, concerts and conventions were canceled for months.
Lexington Center Corp.’s revenues plummeted at the same time $8.4 million in payments on two loans for construction were about to come due. Hotel and motel taxes, used to pay off some of the loans, also dropped as the pandemic halted most travel. The center was forced to lay off or furlough nearly 100 employees in May 2020.
If Lexington Center didn’t make payment on those loans in September 2020, the city of Lexington would have had to pay $1.4 million in interest on those loans from city coffers.
City officials were also struggling with decreasing revenues due to the pandemic. Defaulting was not an option, city officials decided.
Lexington Center Corp. refinanced its debt, taking out an additional $34 million in loans to make debt payments. That $34 million in loans was backed by the city of Lexington.
As a condition of the city backing the new loans, Mayor Linda Gorton requested Lexington Center Corp. report quarterly to the city on its finances to ensure the city knows the financial status of the project and Lexington Center. Those finances show there will not be any issues with repayment on those loans, said Susan Straub, a spokeswoman for the city of Lexington.
The city does not give a direct allocation to Lexington Center for its operations.
That’s rare.
Most convention centers lose money and need tax payer dollars to sustain operations. But Central Bank Center is different. Revenue from Rupp Arena — concerts, UK games and other events — offsets losses from the convention center.
A boost to downtown
Fields said the 100,000 square feet of new exhibition space has allowed the convention center to lure more conventions.
It recently booked the National Beta Club convention for three years.
“We wouldn’t have been able to bid on it before,” he said. Another convention new to Lexington is coming this summer. Central Bank Center has also been able to book conventions it had previously hosted but lost because those conventions needed more space, he said.
“The minimum requirement for so many conventions is 100,000 square feet (of exhibition space),” he said.
The expanded facility gives Lexington the opportunity to compete for nearly 90 percent of convention business, according to various studies. Prior to expansion, it could only compete for 65 percent of the market.
With the exception of months it was closed due to COVID, the convention center has largely remained open, hosting events in meeting rooms, ballrooms and the exhibition hall as those spaces were completed.
As the convention center ramps up and as COVID numbers drop, Mayor Linda Gorton said those visitors will bring much-needed spending power to downtown.
“It brings new people to our city and with them new opportunities to attract good jobs here. It provides customers for our hotels and restaurants,” Gorton said. “The pandemic has been particularly hard on our hospitality sector. We anticipate that the new, larger convention facilities will be a solid shot in the arm.”
Debbie Long, owner of Dudley’s on Short, said the past two years have been rough for downtown restaurants and businesses. Many downtown employees have not returned to offices and continue to work from home. Staffing shortages and rising costs continue to hurt restaurants’ bottom lines, Long said. Dudley’s has cut its lunch service to Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Conventions give downtown restaurants business during the week.
“A lot of our conventions are Sundays, Monday and Tuesdays,” Long said, which are traditionally restaurants’ slowest days. “We’ve already seen an increase with music concerts at Rupp Arena and the return of events at the Lexington Opera House.”
“We are all excited and optimistic,” Long said.
A downtown park and mixed use development on High Street
The renovation and expansion of Central Bank Center is just the start of redevelopment in that corridor.
Adjacent to Central Bank Center is the proposed Town Branch Park, a privately funded nearly 10 acre park that will include an outdoor amphitheater, dog park, multiple trails, a splash pad and play area for kids. Construction on the park is expected to start in the fall.
The park, which has raised $30 million to date, may need to raise additional funds to move the main entrance of the park from Main Street to High Street. A parking dispute with Main Street Baptist Church, which has buildings on Main Street, precipitated moving the main entrance to High and Manchester streets. The park and the church are still in negotiations over the Main Street entrance.
Gray said he hopes that a Main Street access to the park can still be worked out.
“It’s hard to have a park if you don’t have a Main Street entrance to it,” Gray said.
Also in the works is the redevelopment of the High Street parking lot across from Central Bank Center. Lexington Center Corp. has received four proposals to redevelop the lot. One of those proposals includes a soccer stadium for a new Lexington professional soccer club, a hotel, an apartment complex and a 2,000 space parking garage. The other proposals have not yet been released. A committee of the Lexington Center board is still reviewing and scoring the proposals. It’s not clear when the committee and the board will make a final selection.
The city is also applying for a federal transportation grant to address pedestrian safety on that stretch of High Street due to a series of fatal accidents in that area.
But not everyone backs the High Street parking overhaul.
Woodward Heights, the neighborhood closest to the High Street lot, has also raised concerns about how additional traffic and events on the High Street parking lot will affect traffic , light and noise pollution in the area.
Meanwhile, the Town Branch trail will also go through the park, in front of the convention center and down Vine Street. Much of the Town Branch trail through downtown is nearly complete.
“It’s rewarding to see a project that was a dream come true in such a significant way,” Gray said. “It’s an idea whose time has come. It activates the city in a new way for a new century.”
This story was originally published April 14, 2022 at 10:08 AM.
