The 2014 North American International Auto Show will look a whole lot different, according to plans announced by the Cobo Regional Convention Facility Authority last week. A $221 million renovation and reconfiguration of Cobo will add 100,000 square feet of exhibition space and dramatically improve the facility's connection to the Detroit River.
The plans call for the conversion of the existing Cobo Arena to a
40,000-square-foot
ballroom and exhibition space; the addition of a new three-story atrium
entrance facing the river; the creation of a "media mesh" on the
Jefferson Avenue
frontage that will project images
of the auto show and other events to passersby; and the improvement of
the flow from the lower-level
Michigan exhibition hall to the rest of the facility.
Through the strategic planning process, stakeholders -- including the North American International Auto Show -- were interviewed and Cobo's assets and flaws were analyzed. The wish list included improvements to the loading docks, customer service and food, while the building's greatest strength turned out to be its, well, strength.
"We found out that Cobo has a very solid structural foundation...great bone structure," says Larry Alexander, chair of the five-member Cobo Regional Convention Facility Authority.
"We don't have to go ahead and reinvent the wheel -- we can add to, beautify and reorient what is already here and make it better."
Cobo was built in 1960 and was last upgraded in 1989. The authority began operating the facility in 2009. The renovation will be funded by a bond sale that will be repaid by Cobo revenues and liquor and hotel taxes.
Four architectural firms worked on the project: Kahn and SDG from Detroit, Southfield-based Rossetti and TVSdesign from Atlanta.
Take a virtual video tour of the updated facility
via freep.com.
Source: Larry Alexander, Cobo Regional Convention Facility Authority
Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh
Enjoy this story?
Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.