CLEVELAND, Ohio — The International Exposition Center, which for 35 years has hosted major events in the city, is closing, a casualty of the coronavirus pandemic.
“The global pandemic has decimated the event industry as well as many other businesses and has ultimately led to this decision,” said a press statement.
The 2.2-million-square-foot event center is owned by the city of Cleveland, which acquired it in a land swap with Brook Park in 1999. Since that time, it has been leased to the I-X Center Corporation, which handled the day-to-day operations for the facility. It welcomed as many as 2 million visitors a year for events including the Cleveland International Auto Show, Great Big Home and Garden Show, the I-X Indoor Amusement Park, boat shows and many others.
The city initially acquired the building to tear it down to make room for a new runway at adjacent Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. That runway was subsequently determined to not be necessary.
A spokeswoman for the I-X Center Corp. said it was the company’s decision to close the facility, even though the city owns the property.
A request for comment from Cleveland City Hall was not immediately returned.
A spokeswoman for Destination Cleveland said the tourism bureau was not informed about the decision to close the I-X Center in advance.
In 1942, the U.S. War Department authorized construction of the massive facility for military components, calling it the Cleveland Bomber Plant and later the Cleveland Tank Plant. It was operated by General Motors.
The building was vacant from 1970 to 1977, when the Park Corp. bought it and began turning it into an exhibit hall. The I-X Center was dedicated in 1985.
The last event held at the center was the Cleveland Golf and Travel Show in February. The 54th Summit Racing Equipment I-X Piston Powered Auto-Rama, scheduled for March, was canceled two days prior to opening because of the pandemic.
It’s unclear what will happen to the many events held annually at the center -- once large gatherings are permitted to resume. Downtown Cleveland’s Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland, which is a fraction of the size of the I-X Center, is likely too small for many of the events.
This story will be updated.
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September 16, 2020 at 11:23PM
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