Although the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center (BCEC) is not actively hosting events right now, the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority (MCCA) is taking advantage of this window of time to advance a significant number of capital projects and updates. All these improvements are aimed at making the BCEC even more customer-friendly and efficient for future events.
Completed & Under Construction:
- A canopy that will help protect pedestrians walking from the Silver Line on World Trade Center Avenue to the BCEC is under construction. The Silver Line station is one block from the BCEC and offers direct access to Boston Logan International Airport and the rest of Boston’s subway system, The “T”. The new canopy will provide a weather protected walkway to and from the station. Construction began a few weeks ago and will be completed by early 2021.
- All public area carpet was replaced with a new one that is easier to repair, is less likely to pull, and has a padded backing which makes it more comfortable to stand or walk on for longer periods of time. The color of the carpet also corresponds to a specific part of the building: green for East, orange for West, blue for South, and red for North. The previous carpet was the original carpet from 2004 when the BCEC first opened. Moving forward, the MCCA intends on performing regular carpet replacements on a rotating schedule.
- The North Lot where we usually set up valet parking operations is currently being paved and re-striped. The roads on Level 0 and Level 1, as well as the road leading to the Loading Docks are also undergoing renovation.
- Two escalators will be added on either side of the existing Hall A escalators to help with attendee flow from the North Lobby into the Exhibit Halls. This project had been expected to take an extensive amount of time as the work had to be completed around events taking place in the building. With the current situation, however, the MCCA has been able to consolidate the work and is expected to finish the project well ahead of schedule (in early 2021) without inconvenience to customers.
- The Green Room for speakers and performers behind the Ballroom is getting enhancements which will be completed by early September.
Upcoming:
- An enclosed pedestrian passageway will be built from the new Omni Boston Hotel at the Seaport to the BCEC. The passageway will provide pedestrians with temperature-controlled access to the BCEC from the Exhibit Level. This will be a great alternative to walking across Summer Street from World Trade Center Avenue on days where there is heavy vehicle traffic or inclement weather. The new Omni hotel will open in the spring of 2021 right across the street from the BCEC and will add 1,054 hotel rooms and over 100,000 square feet of meeting space to the neighborhood.
- Fire alarm upgrades including new software and devices
- An updated Building Management system will be introduced which will allow the Engineering & Maintenance Department to have better control of building comfort and temperature, as well as more efficiency and energy savings. As a part of this project the air filters will also be replaced, allowing for a 25% increase in air filtration and improved air quality. Increasing filtration rates has been a goal for most facilities as a result of COVID-19.
Boston is open for future bookings. If you need to change the dates of an event that hasn’t been accommodated by another city or are simply looking for a date in the future, don’t hesitate to reach out at sales@SignatureBoston.com.