Public Record, The: Business carries on amidst outside bustle

Despite the fact that it looks like a tornado hit the east side of the Palm Springs Convention Center, it's been business as usual, reports General Manager Jim Dunn.

"We were booked pretty much the whole month of July," he says. The expansion and redesign of the building had little, if any, impact on the Miss Teen USA pageant, USA Gymnastics national acrobatics competition, or conventions I using the facility this summer. In August, World Wrestling Entertainment attracted a crowd of about 2,300. On Sept. 9. the center hosts the 10th annual valleywide employment expo.

July conventioneers staying at the Wyndham hotel present a prime example of how business carries on unabated. "Basically they never went outside, so they never saw anything in terms of the construction," Dunn says. Inside, a temporary, insulated, dry-walled and painted wall "looks just like a wall anywhere else in the building."

From inside the exhibit hall, the temporary wall belies the extent of work taking place just on the other side. Expanding the hall by 34,000 square feet required removal of the porte cochere from what was the front and will now be the rear of the building along Avenida Caballeros. To join the existing structure with a new structure meant tearing away the .east end of the building up to 25 feet into the existing hall and squaring off angled comers.

"The most disruptive part of the work is the destruction, because you are shaking the building," Dunn says, adding that the greatest extent of vibration, noise and dust was generated in May and June. "We kept our calendar pretty clear," he notes, adding that most of the booked activities occurred during the evening or on weekends when work was not taking place.

The activities of convention center employees also have been relatively unaffected. "We go about our business," Dunn says. "Inside the building, the walls are there, the carpet is there, the air conditioning is there, so you're not really seeing the construction. You can hear it sometimes and you can feel the vibration sometimes, but that was in the early stages and that's trailing off."

The first step in the project involved removing the parking lots, driveway and porte cochere, then grading and site preparation. The second step was tearing away the exterior of the building. The construction crew had to destroy part of the loading dock, relocate utilities and "blow through" the area on the north side of the building housing the chillers and main electrical system to make a hallway for access from the loading dock to the back of the house and new ballroom.

"We just have less [loading dock space than we had before," Dunn says. "We try to give groups more time to get in and out."

Parking has been provided across the street on Avenida Caballeros and on a lot at Calle El Segundo and Andreas Road owned by the city and leased to the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians for its Spa Casino Resort patrons. Entrance to the convention center, other than through the Wyndham, has been moved to the southeast corner - the site of a future outdoor function area.

Later this month, steel will begin to rise around the convention center and the new downtown-facing facade will start to take shape. A retaining wall that snakes around the property from the front (soon to be the rear) to the rear (soon to be the front) along Amado Road has been under construction. A screening wall beyond will block the loading dock from public view. Footings have been put in place for the new lobby and ballroom, and grade changes on the west side of the building are being leveled.

At about 20 percent of the way into the expansion, work moves from destruction to construction, says Dunn. Work remains on schedule for an anticipated fall 2005 completion

"To me, it's an interesting time," Dunn says. "It's getting very tangible now. It's getting very real that a year from now we will be getting ready to welcome clients into the new building." The only cancellations have been from some groups who had booked events immediately after the expansion was to be completed in March 2005. When the beginning of the work was delayed because of larger-than-anticipated construction bids, the completion date had to be moved back. Some of the booked groups who were relving on the expanded capacity of the center were forced to cancel because the center would not be able to accommodate their needs.

Meanwhile, Dunn. shrugs off the notion that the commotion surrounding such a major construction effort creates an unsettling environment. "You know it's progress," he says. "It's not a bad thing."