Association Meetings: The Mid-South

Byline: Bob Andelman

WHAT'S NEW

This isn't Col. Sanders' Deep South any more. It's a place where business is being done and meetings are being planned. Small towns such as Hattiesburg, Miss., and Pigeon Forge, Tenn., are competing for small and midsize meetings and conventions. And big cities such as Memphis and Nashville, Tenn., and New Orleans continue polishing older gems and adding new ones to lure business big and small. If your organization is sticking with domestic travel, yet is tired of the usual points of interest, you'll be delighted with what the South has to offer.

FACILITY UPDATE

ALABAMA

The Ross Bridge Golf Resort and Conference Center in Birmingham is scheduled to open in late spring 2005. This latest addition to Alabama's Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail will have 260 rooms, including 11 suites, and 20,000 square feet of meeting space, along with a European-style spa and indoor pool and fitness center.

KENTUCKY

Work is wrapping up on the $50 million final phase of The Lexington Convention Center. A conference area adjacent to the new 17,000-square-foot Bluegrass Grand Ballroom will be created, providing an additional 20,000 square feet of meeting and pre-function space.

Louisville's Waterfront Park draws more than 1.25 million visitors annually for concerts, festivals, and special events. The Adventure Playground opened in July 2003. New this spring are an amphitheater, promenade, boat docks, and a rowing facility. Future plans include a spiral pathway that connects to a pedestrian bridge across the river.

Ground has been broken for the Louisville Marriott Downtown, a 620-room convention center headquarters hotel adjacent to the Kentucky International Convention Center. It is expected to open in spring 2005.

Louisville's largest hotels - the Executive Inn, Executive West, and Galt House Hotel & Suites - are getting a multimillion-dollar makeover. The work, to be done over the next two to three years, started with the Galt House property. An elevated walkway across Main Street linking to a pedway system to KICC was completed in November 2003.

Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby, began a $121 million renovation and expansion in 2002. The famed Twin Spires will stay intact, but virtually every other part of the Downs' grandstand and clubhouse will be replaced or extensively renovated. Phase one, completed in 2003, added 64 luxury suites and meeting rooms. Phase two will concentrate on the clubhouse and is planned for completion in late 2004 or early 2005.

LOUISIANA

Southwest Louisiana/Lake Charles will soon be the home of a luxurious 24-story gaming complex by Pinnacle Entertainment, including a single level riverboat with nonstop gaming, a golf course, pool and "lazy river," spa and exercise facilities, restaurants, and 40,000 gross square feet of meeting and conference space. The resort will be on Contraband Bayou, a locale with a rich and fabled history. Construction began in September 2003, and opening is anticipated for March 2005.

The 350,000-square-foot, $70 million Shreveport Convention Center is under construction and expected to take 24 to 30 months to complete. A 300-room, 13-story Hilton Hotel will adjoin the convention center and should open within six months of completion of the center.

Several new hotels have opened in New Orleans this year and in 2003: Ramada Inn & Suites (with 130 rooms), Renaissance Arts Hotel (217 rooms), Loews Hotel/Lykes Building Conversion (282 rooms), Staybridge Suites New Orleans (182 rooms), Marriott Convention Center Hotel (331 rooms), and French Quarter Hilton (200 rooms).

Delta Downs Racetrack and Casino in Vinton, La., is adding a hotel to its property. Construction should be complete by the end of 2004.

Harrah's Louisiana Downs in Bossier City underwent $110 million in major renovations, including the addition of 1,500 slot machines in a 150,000-square-foot building, three new restaurants for more than 1,200 guests, and a facade overhaul.

MISSISSIPPI

The 367-room Isle of Capri is working on a $79 million expansion of its Biloxi property, which will include a 400-room hotel, a 12,000-square-foot multipurpose center, and up to 22,000 total square feet of flexible meeting space.

In Biloxi, MGM Mirage's Beau Rivage Resort and Casino, on the Mississippi Gulf Coast with 1,780 rooms and suites, completed a recent $10 million project that converted the hotel's 26th floor to all suites, increasing the total number of suites to 95. The Spa & Salon at Beau Rivage also finished an expansion, including two new couples massage rooms. As many as 1,800 people can be accommodated in Beau Rivage's 50,000-square-foot meeting facility.

The $235 million Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Biloxi is scheduled to open in late summer 2005. It will feature a 306-room hotel and approximately 50,000 square feet of gaming space.

Palace Casino Resort added a $15 million Sports Zone in February 2004. The sports-themed gaming barge features the longest bar on Mississippi's Gulf Coast - more than 300 feet.

Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport increased its terminal size from 92,000 square feet to 165,000 square feet and will provide room for three new carriers. The project should be complete by 2006.

TENNESSEE

The Chattanooga Convention Center opened in April 2003 with 298,000 square feet of space.

The $92 million expansion and renovation of the Memphis Cook Convention Center was the heart of a $5 billion downtown investment. The project created more than 35,000 square feet of exhibit and meeting space. Groups can use the 2,100-seat Cannon Center for the Performing Arts, located inside the convention center, for assemblies and events.

The Memphis Marriott Downtown, connected to the convention center, recently completed a $14 million expansion, bringing its room total to 602 and adding 5,100 square feet of meeting space.

Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville plans to open a new 27,000-square-foot European-style spa, featuring an indoor-outdoor pool and 12 treatment rooms, next year.

Film star Debbie Reynolds, a collector of movie memorabilia for 35 years, will bring Hollywood to Tennessee when she opens the Hollywood Motion Picture Museum in the Smoky Mountains resort community of Pigeon Forge in spring 2005. The $50 million collection, estimated to be the largest private collection of its kind, contains more than 3,500 costumes and tens of thousands of props, movie posters, photos, lobby cards, and other items. Original film clips relating to the artifacts comprise another important part of the collection.

ASK THE CVB

Alabama

Greater Birmingham Convention& Visitors Bureau (205) 458-8000 www.birminghamal.org

Kentucky

Greater Louisville Convention& Visitors Bureau (800) 626-5646 (502) 584-2121 www.gotolouisville.com

Northern Kentucky CVB (800) 447-8489, (859) 261-4677 www.staynky.com

Lexington CVB (800) 848-1224 www.visitlex.com

Louisiana

New Orleans Metropolitan CVB (800) 672-6124, (504) 566-5011 www.neworleanscvb.com

Shreveport-Bossier Convention & Tourist Bureau (800) 45-VISIT, (318) 222-9391 www.shreveport-bossier.org

Mississippi

Mississippi Gulf Coast CVB (888) 467-4853, (228) 896-6699 www.coastalstyle.org

Tennessee

Chattanooga Area CVB (800) 322-3344 (423) 259-4739 www.chattanoogacvb.com

Nashville CVB (800) 657-6910, (615) 756-8687 www.nashvillecvb.com

Phantom Planner

Pigeon Forge, Tenn.'s, permanent resident population is just 5,173, yet the city welcomes about 11 million visitors a year. At the heart of its appeal is Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the country's most visited national park. A warning to visiting groups that might want alcohol at events: The hotels in Pigeon Forge cannot sell alcohol. You can bring it in, but they can't serve it.

Use the shuttle in Pigeon Forge. The traffic is extremely heavy, and the trolley allows people to travel up and down the main parkway. You can go into Dollywood or Gatlinburg on the trolley. It costs only a quarter and runs continuously.

A free electric shuttle connects 1,450 guest rooms with the Chattanooga (Tenn.) Convention Center. The shuttles run every five to 10 minutes.

Looking for youth activities? The $2.5 million Extreme Park opened in 2003 in Louisville, Ky. The park offers facilities for skateboarders, bikers, and inline skaters.

Special Venues

The secluded Woods Hole Inn B&B in Folsom, La., is popular for small retreats.

New Orleans' Venusian Gardens Art Gallery, in a renovated church in the historic Faubourg Marigny District, opened in March. It is available for private parties and receptions.

The largest cast-iron statue in the world - second in size only to the Statue of Liberty - Vulcan, kept his patient vigil over Birmingham, Ala., for decades. This year, after a four-year absence as he underwent restoration, Vulcan returned to his pedestal high on Birmingham's Red Mountain. During the statue's absence, the pedestal was restored. Along with the renovation, new space for social functions is now available. Vulcan Plaza and Vulcan Overlook both offer spectacular views of the city and, along with the Function Room, can accommodate as many as 400 attendees for parties and receptions. www.vulcanpark.org

Construction on Northshore Harbor Center, a 45,000-square-foot, multipurpose meeting and event venue on 25 acres, adjacent to Oak Harbor Golf Course in Slidell, La., should be complete by late 2005.

Scottish Rite Temple - built in 1917 - is renting space in downtown Shreveport, La. The building is on the register of historic places. The 550-seat auditorium is available to the public.