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From left: Architect Patrick McMurry, Hickory Metro Convention Center CEO Mandy Pitts Hildebrand, Hickory Conover Tourism Development Authority Chairman Bruce Eckard and Hickory Construction President and CEO Mark Baucom discuss the plans for the convention center expansion.
The Hickory Metro Convention Center is getting a $14 million expansion. A construction contract approved Thursday says the project is supposed to be finished by May, 2024.
The convention center’s expansion will add about 46,000 square feet to the current building. The designs were presented Thursday by Holland & Hamrick Architect Patrick McMurry at a joint meeting of the Hickory Conover Tourism Development Authority, the Conover City Council and the Hickory City Council.
The largest portion of the addition is a 35,000-square-foot space with 30-foot ceilings and wood floors. The space will be used for shows and meetings, as well as sporting events. There will be space for eight volleyball courts or four basketball courts, McMurry said.
The expansion will also add a second entrance and lobby to the building. Off that lobby, there will be a 2,500-square-foot space to highlight the area’s furniture history. McMurry called it the Furniture Hall of Fame.
The remainder of the expansion is space for hallways, restrooms and storage, McMurry said.
Along with an expansion, the project also includes updates to about 30,000 square feet of the current building, McMurry said. The updates will include new lighting and sound in meeting rooms, renovated and expanded restrooms and a new canopy at the front entrance that runs to the parking garage.
The lowest construction bid for the project was $14,040,000 from Hickory Construction. The bids were lower than expected, Hickory Conover Tourism Development Authority Board Chairman Bruce Eckard said.
All three boards at the meeting approved acceptance of the construction bid. The Hickory City Council approved the construction contract.
The project will be paid for with money collected from Hickory and Conover’s occupancy tax, which is a tax on all hotel stays or room rentals, Eckard said.
Hickory Construction has 600 days, starting Thursday, to complete the project, McMurry said. That date falls in May, 2024.
Hickory Construction plans to begin construction at the site in April, 2023, McMurry said. Though physical construction won’t begin until next year, the construction company will begin ordering supplies and materials for the project, Hickory Construction President and CEO Mark Baucom said.
“We’ll be working behind the scenes, very hard, to get everything ready,” he said.
The delay to the start of construction may help avoid construction pauses from supply chain backups, because the construction company has several months to order and receive supplies, McMurry said.
This is the second expansion of the convention center since it opened in 1997. The first expansion was in 2005, according to a release from the convention center.
Mandy Pitts Hildebrand, CEO of the Hickory Metro Convention Center and Visitors Bureau, said the expansion will be a driver of tourism for the region. “I appreciate the opportunity to be a part of this great adventure,” she said. “It’s going to be a major game changer for our entire region.”
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Virginia Annable is a reporter covering the Catawba Valley region and North Carolina. Find Virginia on Twitter @annablevl
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Architect explains plans for convention center expansion
From left: Architect Patrick McMurry, Hickory Metro Convention Center CEO Mandy Pitts Hildebrand, Hickory Conover Tourism Development Authority Chairman Bruce Eckard and Hickory Construction President and CEO Mark Baucom discuss the plans for the convention center expansion.
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