DETROIT | Cobo Center Renovation

[DTW]

In March it's was announced that Detroit's convention center would under massive renovation. Work began in April, to date there are no real exterior changes as most work is currently is focused on gutting Cobo Arena. In addition interior and exterior it would add 25,000 sq ft to main 600,000 of contiguous space.




DETROIT—March 2, 2011—The Detroit Regional Convention Facility Authority (DRCFA) today
unveiled a three-year, $221 million plan for the reinvention of Cobo Conference & Exhibition
Center, Metro Detroit’s regional convention facility. The bond-financed project is Phase III of a
multi-year strategic plan to return Cobo Center to its historic role as one of North America’s
premier meeting and convention venues.

The most visible upgrades to Cobo Center that were announced today include:

The reinvention of Cobo Arena as a 40,000-square foot ballroom with supporting
meeting, pre-function and back-of-house spaces. This new ballroom will feature a glass
wall and open-air terrace facing Hart Plaza and Detroit’s downtown to the east, as well as
pre-function space with a panoramic view of the Detroit River and the international border
with Canada to the south.

The creation of a new “signature space” for Cobo Center in the form of a spacious threestory
glass atrium that links the main floor of the venue with a new entrance facing the
Detroit River, bringing the lower-level exhibition space more naturally into the flow of a
meeting or convention and linking Cobo Center more fully to Detroit’s revitalized
riverfront.

Significant renovation to the building’s primary façade on the east side facing downtown
Detroit. The primary element will be a high-tech “media mesh” that will function as a giant
digital signboard welcoming conventions and guests to Detroit and to the new Cobo
Center. Additional elements include a new entrance to the recently-developed food court,
improved protection from the elements for arriving guests and increased use of glass in
exterior walls to tie events at Cobo Center more closely into the surrounding city.

http://www.cobocenter.com/css/DRCFA%...se%20FINAL.pdf


• Video Link

[DTW]

Level 1 (Basement/ River Level)


Level 2 (Street Level)


Level 3



Level 4

[Rail>Auto]

Is Cobo Arena where the RedWings play?

[DTW]

Originally Posted by Rail>Auto

Is Cobo Arena where the RedWings play?

No that's Joe Louis which is the building directly behind in the renderings. Cobo Arena is where the Pistons played from 60-79 , but it's probably most famous as a concert venue . A number of notable rock albums were recorded including Bob Seger's Siliver Bullet and Kiss' Alive. It's also where Nancy Kerrigan got her knee whacked. Martin Luther King delivered an early version of his "I have a dream" speech their in '63

[Rail>Auto]

O ok I see now. I'm glad they're keeping Cobo Arena and I hope they keep Joe Louis too when the Red Wings move out. This is going to be a nice complex.

[DTW]

Cobo renovations show progress before auto show


To the casual visitor to next month's North American International Auto Show, visual evidence of the $300-million remake now under way at host facility Cobo Center may be in short supply.

That's because most of the work so far has been of the back-of-the-house variety -- extending loading docks, upgrading electrical and temperature control systems, and the like.

Larry Alexander, chairman of the Detroit Regional Convention Facility Authority, said auto show visitors should notice the construction work "not at all."

"We've done a very good job of separating the work that they've done from where the customer activities are," Alexander said Tuesday. "It's almost come back to haunt us because we've got customers who've walked in who say they can't tell there's any work going on."

But there is, of course, and on Tuesday, Cobo General Manager Thom Connors led a pack of news media representatives on an hour-long, hard-hat tour of the work.

"We've come a long way in a short period of time," Connors said. "People who work here are passionate about making it better."

One of the more visible changes: About 25,000 square feet of new space has been added on to Cobo's Oakland Hall by building on an annex on the west side of Cobo. It will house the Pure Michigan exhibit and some auto suppliers during next month's show.

The biggest changes are yet to come. In perhaps the most dramatic, a new waterfront atrium entrance will be built off Atwater, a project that will begin immediately after next month's auto show closes. It will be ready for the January 2013 auto show.

http://www.freep.com/article/2011121...text|FRONTPAGE

[animatedmartian]

Took these earlier today.













This part hasn't been touched yet, but I really like the 50s marble/granite. I think I'll miss it just a little bit.

[Rizzo]

I really hope they don't just smash all that granite to pieces. It can easily be removed, refurbished, and resold.

[montréaliste]

I second what Hayward says but I am really happy that the Cobo is being recycled as part of the convention center. This will also be an additional incentive to develop the riverfront for Detroiters and visitors alike. Let's hope small business can have some advantage in working the area.

[DTW]

Pieces of history: Cobo renovations erase famed concert venue

Along the downtown riverfront Thursday morning, a giant crane began to tear down the wall separating Cobo Center and the former Cobo Arena, thus smashing one of the last physical remains of the legendary concert venue.
...
For now the arena is an empty shell — the insides have been gutted since work began last summer. Connors admits most people look at the space now and get nostalgic for the venue's past.

"I would say almost every day, someone tells me of what band or event they attended," he said.



From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2...#ixzz1rKdCg6jH




Famous live albums recorded at Cobo
— The Doors, "Live in Detroit" (1970)
— Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band, "Live Bullet" (1975) and parts of "Nine Tonight" (1980)
— Kiss, "Kiss Alive" (1975)
— J. Geils Band, parts of "Blow Your Face Out" (1975)
— Yes, most of "Yesshows" (1976)
— Journey, "Captured" (1981)
— Madonna, "Live: The Virgin Tour" (1985)
— Kid Rock, "Live Trucker" (2004)

[Rizzo]

^ Sometimes large civic buildings like this will have displays and signage mentioning past events, concerts, or local history. Since the building has long concourses, it would be cool to create displays of the above mentioned recordings and engage them with the architecture.

[animatedmartian]

Cobo's rebirth delivers business: $299-million renovation attracts events, shows regional cooperation

http://www.freep.com/article/2012050...ss?odyssey=tab










Final product.





http://www.freep.com/article/2012050...ss?odyssey=tab

[animatedmartian]

July 1st.

[animatedmartian]

The frame is coming along nicely.

[DTW]

Detroit's new and improved Cobo Center is almost ready for its close-up.

On Thursday, Cobo officials showed off the new riverside atrium entrance, a 16,000-square-foot, three-story glass-enclosed space that promises to become one of Detroit's new ceremonial venues.

Still filled with construction workers and equipment, the atrium entrance will be tidied up for the North American International Auto Show in January, then closed off again for its finishing touches.

"It gives us a magnificent point of entry that the facility never had before," Patrick Bero, CEO of the Detroit Regional Convention Facility Authority, told reporters on a hard-hat media tour. "It gives us spectacular views of the Detroit River and the Windsor skyline."

The new riverside entrance and atrium is part of the years-long renovations of Cobo undertaken by the regional authority, which took over management of the center from the City of Detroit in 2009.

The multi-phase upgrades are budgeted to cost $277 million in construction spending, and Bero said the project is on time and within the budget.

Cobo Arena, adjacent to the atrium, is being turned into a ballroom and meeting rooms and should be ready by June 2013.

Bero noted that the lower-level Michigan Hall will open directly onto the new atrium. That should transform the formerly little-used Michigan Hall into prime meeting space.

The entire slate of Cobo renovations, including new electronic signs on the Washington Boulevard side, should be finished by late 2014 or early 2015.

http://www.freep.com/article/2012122...text|FRONTPAGE

[Rizzo]

I'm looking forward to seeing this in person during the auto show.

[Onn]

The ballroom/show floor section looks like its going to be pretty exciting. The renovations are looking great so far, its been a long time coming.

[animatedmartian]

Ballroom and atrium are now complete.

• Video Link

[mrnyc]

Originally Posted by DTW

Pieces of history: Cobo renovations erase famed concert venue

Along the downtown riverfront Thursday morning, a giant crane began to tear down the wall separating Cobo Center and the former Cobo Arena, thus smashing one of the last physical remains of the legendary concert venue.
...
For now the arena is an empty shell — the insides have been gutted since work began last summer. Connors admits most people look at the space now and get nostalgic for the venue's past.

"I would say almost every day, someone tells me of what band or event they attended," he said.



From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2...#ixzz1rKdCg6jH




Famous live albums recorded at Cobo
— The Doors, "Live in Detroit" (1970)
— Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band, "Live Bullet" (1975) and parts of "Nine Tonight" (1980)
— Kiss, "Kiss Alive" (1975)
— J. Geils Band, parts of "Blow Your Face Out" (1975)
— Yes, most of "Yesshows" (1976)
— Journey, "Captured" (1981)
— Madonna, "Live: The Virgin Tour" (1985)
— Kid Rock, "Live Trucker" (2004)

— Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band, "Live Bullet" (1975) and parts of "Nine Tonight" (1980)
— Kiss, "Kiss Alive" (1975)
— J. Geils Band, parts of "Blow Your Face Out" (1975)


^ three of thee absolutely greatest live rock concert records ever, all from cobo in 1975. i have every word of them memorized lol! thats impressive for one venue.

i cant wait to see the new interior, but more importantly i hope they are careful about the sound for future concerts, that can be tricky.

[LMich]

mrnyc,

I'm pretty sure the video in the post right above your post (I haven't watched it) shows the new interior of the former arena. And, to be clear, it's the former arena as it was turned into a ballroom and meeting space. It's no longer a concert venue.