Convention Center & Hotel Update

Woweeee! Wait until you see the the totally new look of the Julian Carroll Convention Center here in Paducah. On Friday, Terry Guill and I made a trip to do some remeasuring of the new merchant mall space in the hotel, and got our first peak of the nearly completed remodeling of the convention center too.

This detail like a flowing river with lights incorporated into it is located on the ceiling at the entrance of each of the River Rooms in the hallway on the second floor of the convention center.

Workers are busy laying the last of the carpeting in the River Rooms (formerly called the International Rooms). The names of these rooms have been changed to reflect the rivers in this area - Cumberland, Ohio, Tennessee, and Mississippi. The wallhangings in the AQS Contest, some special exhibit quilts, and vendors will be located in these River Rooms on the second floor of the convention center.

The classrooms are all finished with new wall treatments, new ceiling and lights, and new carpet. You won't believe how wonderful the lighting is in these classrooms now. This photo was taken without a flash - using only the lights in the room.

The bathrooms in the convention center have been totally redone. Here you can see that the tile work is all finished and the commodes and sinks are in place. All this restroom needs are the stalls to be put into place and it will be ready for the show.

You might recognize this space as the area in the hotel where the shops used to be. This year we will be using this space for the vendors who had previously been located at the swimming pool and under the pool in the Pool Annex. It is right next to the Patio Dining Room and we are calling this area the Galleria. The offices that had been on either side of this space have been opened up, letting us have all of these vendors much closer to the convention center and expo center.

.

There will be more than 160 vendor booths in the Galleria area. Next week the carpet will be laid on the floor to finish off this space. You'll find lots of luscious fabric and other quilting goodies in the booths in this whole area. Just think, you won't need to walk all the way from one end of the hotel to the other end of the Expo Center this year.

.

The deep cleaning of the hotel rooms is about 3/4 finished...and will be all finished by show time. Space Coast Hospitality Management Services, who is managing the hotel during the quilt show, has been working overtime to get the hotel ready for the quilt show.

.

The closing still has not taken place on the sale of the hotel. For those of you who were expecting refunds for the overbooked rooms by the end of March, those refunds cannot be distributed until that closing takes place. Funds will be held in a special account at the closing so you can receive your refund.

.

The show opens in just 18 days. Advance registration closed at 3 p.m. on Friday. If you need tickets for lectures or special events, you will need to check at the Workshop Desk at the show. The Workshop Desk will be open from 12 noon to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, April 21, and from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on show days (closes at 5 p.m. on Saturday).
.
Bonnie Browning, reporting on the renovations...

Convention Center Photo Update

Terry Guill and I had the opportunity to enter the "hard hat zone" during the construction at the Julian Carroll Convention Center earlier this week. We want you to see the progress as well. The remodeling is a week ahead of schedule and it will be ready for our 25th Anniversary AQS Quilt Show in April.

As you enter the Julian Carroll Convention Center, you walk into the atrium lobby area. The "moat" around the stairway has now been filled with concrete, giving several feet of space in the lobby.

The classrooms have already been painted and are waiting for the new ceiling tiles to be installed. There will be new lighting in all of the classrooms too.

The hallway is getting a new makeover too. Won't it be fun to see this space all completely remodeled?

You can see in this photo of the exhibit hall how the ceiling has been raised. The quilts will be displayed in this area giving us much better lighting to show off the stars of the show - the quilts!

Here we are inside the exhibit area on the second floor of the convention center. The drywallers have been busy taping some new walls in this area.