Story

As the fourth building in the Chicago Convention Center Campus, the West Hall is the largest LEED certified building in the country.  The Expansion involved adding approximately 459,000 SF of exhibition space, 140,750 SF of meeting/banquet space, a 103,750 SF column-free ballroom as well as associated food and support service spaces. The addition also required connecting the existing McCormick Place complex to an existing pedestrian bridge and modifying an existing parking garage and conference center. In addition, the new facility necessitated designing an elevated service roadway connecting the existing truck marshalling facility at the South Hall and exhibition center to the new truck dock facility at the West Expansion.  Design and construction of the building on a fast track required an unprecedented degree of communication and cooperation between Clark, the architect and the owner/operator, the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority (MPEA), as well as the City of Chicago and its many regulatory agencies. The project required nearly 250 separate permits for work ranging from lane closures to the dismantling and reconstruction of an historic façade to the main building permit.  This massive project is Clark’s largest on record, and was successfully completed within budget and 4 months ahead of schedule.