Louisville, Lookin’ Good

International Lawn, Garden & Power Equipment Expo (EXPO) attendees might see some orange barrels in the Kentucky Fair & Exposition Center’s (KFEC) parking lot this weekend. A $52 million expansion will create more “Class A” exhibitor space free of columns, increasing the desirable area in the south wing by 166,5000 square feet – a new ballroom and medium-sized meeting rooms will consume 57,000 square feet of the addition.

EXPO will fit in the new space, which is expected to be completed by 2005. The construction will not affect the logistics of the show. “We can move the entire EXPO into Class A space, where as some exhibitors now ‘stepsisters’ stuck in the East wing, which was built in the 1950s,” pointed out Warren Sellers, president, Sellers Expositions, Louisville, Ky. The south wing has higher ceilings and better lighting than the east wing, and “doesn’t have the obstructive columns that we have to contend with in the east wing,” he added.
Besides, additional space will carve leeway into show scheduling, which can get cramped when trade show move-in/move-out dates overlap, he added.

“The facility just needs more space,” he said. “People don’t realize the conflict dates between when shows move in and move out. It’s not hotel rooms or the facility’s capacity, but if one show is moving out and another one want to move in at the same time (we have to turn down a show) and then you have dark dates because you don’t have space in the schedule.”

Increasing Class A space from 35 percent to 60 percent of the overall facility will allow the KFEC to pursue larger, more prestigious shows, and the additional space will accommodate a greater number of trade shows, Sellers added, noting that downtown Louisville construction projects partnered with the expansion position the city as a strong trade show candidate. A $70 million project to renovate the Louisville Galleria, an urban mall, into the Fourth Street Live entertainment hub will win the city a Hard Rock Café and possible ESPN Zone sports bar and upscale Maker’s Mark bar. A Marriott Convention Center Hotel will open in spring 2005, providing further accommodations for show-goers. “The hotel packages continue to get better and better,” he said.

The author is Editor of Commercial Dealer magazine and a Contributing Editor to Lawn & Landscape magazine. She can be reached at khampshire@lawnandlandscape.com.