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Emanuel 'Tourism And Trade Show' Plan Includes DePaul Arena, Navy Pier Revamp

By Chuck Sudo in News on May 16, 2013 9:20PM

Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority announced Thursday a broad plan to boost tourism and trade show business in Chicago Thursday that includes the planned arena for DePaul University and two hotels to be built near McCormick Place, and major renovations to Navy Pier.

The $1.1 billion project, called “Elevate Chicago,” also calls for a $48 million makeover of the Navy Pier Flyover, the stretch of the Lakefront Path spanning from Oak Street Beach to just past the Chicago River that becomes heavily congested with bicycle and pedestrian traffic during the warm weather months.

The plans for Navy Pier include previously announced projects such as the expansion of the Chicago Children’s Museum, more dining and entertainment venues, and upgrading the Pier’s infrastructure last March, Navy Pier’s governing board named James Corner Field Operations as the architect to carry out redesigning the facility’s public spaces.

The McCormick Place development, in addition to the planned 10,000 seat stadium and a previously announced 1,200 room “headquarters hotel,” will include an “entertainment district” and a 500-room boutique hotel. A general session hall will be connected to McCormick Place West by a skybridge.

As for the stadium, it will contain 22 suites and 300 club seats. DePaul will be the primary tenant. Emanuel, at a news conference announcing the project this morning, insisted the stadium was an integral part of the overall project. Crain’s Chicago Business' Danny Ecker tweeted Emanuel said the project could not be possible without the $100 million DePaul is putting into building the arena and the proposed $100 million to come from naming rights. McPier chairman Jim Reilly further defended the arena by claiming it would break even within a year and generate $1 million within five years

Reilly said in a statement the project would make once again make Chicago the crown jewel for America’s trade show business.

“We are focused intensely on becoming and remaining the world's leading convention and trade show destination. To do this, we must have not only a state-of-the-art convention facilities, we also need this assembly hall and events center,” said Reilly. “Most of our competitors have events centers, which allows them to attract a range of shows and conventions that are more difficult for us to attract with competitive pricing. We are fortunate to have a private partner in this venture to share construction and operations costs."

The announcement came, coincidentally, on the second anniversary of Emanuel's inauguration as mayor.