Austin Convention Center

Neal Kocurek Memorial Austin Convention Center
Convention center seen from northwest corner
Address	500 E Cesar Chavez St Austin, TX 78701
Owner	City of Austin
Built	1989–1992
Opened	July 4, 1992[1]
Renovated	1999, 2002, 2010, 2011
Construction cost	$35 million
Former names	Austin Convention Center (1992–2004)[2]
Classroom-style seating	24 (Austin Suite)
Theatre seating	5,285 (Sport Hall) 3,940 (Grand Ballroom)
Enclosed space
• Total space	881,400 square feet (82,000 m2)
• Exhibit hall floor	247,052 square feet (23,000 m2)
• Breakout/meeting	58,152 square feet (5,400 m2)
• Ballroom	63,928 square feet (5,900 m2)
Parking	2 garages, 1685 total spaces
Bicycle facilities	124 bike racks[3]
Website
Venue Website

The Neal Kocurek Memorial Austin Convention Center is a multi-purpose convention center located in Austin, Texas. The building is the home of the Texas Rollergirls, and was also home to the Austin Toros basketball team, until their move to the Cedar Park Center in nearby Cedar Park in 2010. The facility is also the primary "home base" for the internationally renowned South by Southwest technology, music and film conference/festival, held annually in March.

The convention center is slated to be torn down in 2025 so that a replacement that'll be double the size of the current facility can be built. The $1.6 billion replacement convention center is expected to open in 2029 and is being funded by the convention centers current revenue and a new 2% hotel occupancy tax.^[4] The current convention centers size - and the lack of any other appropriately sized venues - has prevented Austin from hosting (for example) the Democratic National Convention,^[5] although it is unclear whether or not the new facility would be of sufficient capacity, either.

In the early 1980s civic leaders became concerned that Austin was being passed over as a site for major conventions because the city's main event facility, Palmer Auditorium, was too small. In 1983 the city council unveiled a concept for a $35 million convention center as part of a $350 million complex of hotels and parkland on the south shore of Town Lake (now Lady Bird Lake). Resistance to this plan by neighborhood groups near the proposed site and downtown business leaders caused the city to consider several other sites, finally choosing a downtown site near Waller Creek for construction. Financing was provided for by a US$69 million bond sale, approved by referendum on July 29, 1989.^[6] The grand opening ceremony took place on July 4, 1992.^[7]

On September 1, 1999, construction began on an expansion aimed at nearly doubling the size of the facility from 441,000 square feet (41,000 m²) to 881,400 square feet (81,880 m²).^[8] The grand reopening took place on May 18, 2002.^[9] The enlarged Convention Center's five exhibit halls have a combined 247,052 square feet (22,951.9 m²) of column-free space. There are 54 meeting rooms and two ballrooms, including one of the largest ballrooms in Texas with 40,510 square feet (3,764 m²).^[10]

The Austin City Council changed the name of the Austin Convention Center on July 29, 2004, to honor civic leader Dr. W. Neal Kocurek (1936–2004), who helped rally community support for construction of a convention center for Austin. Kocurek died after suffering a stroke on March 29, 2004. The formal dedication took place on December 2, 2004.^[10]

On February 22, 2007, former NBA player and Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame member Dennis Johnson suffered a heart attack outside the convention center after a practice by the Austin Toros basketball team. Johnson, who was the Toros' head coach, died later that day.^[11]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Austin Convention Center.

• Official website
• W. Neal Kocurek Bio

30°15′45.10″N 97°44′24.43″W / 30.2625278°N 97.7401194°W / 30.2625278; -97.7401194