Baltimore Convention Center - Convention Center Hotel and Future of The Convention Center

Convention Center Hotel and Future of The Convention Center

However, despite the continuing growth and redevelopment in the area, the expanded Convention Center has not met expectations with respect to the number of conventions and people it attracts each year. Quoted in a 2004 Baltimore Sun article, Irene E. Van Sant, then-manager of the Convention Center Hotel Project for the Baltimore Development Corporation, remarked that the Convention Center "has not lived up to its potential. There are many reasons, but we believe a major reason is the lack of a convention hotel in close proximity." (Revive, 2005)

Thus some—most notably Baltimore's former Mayor and now Governor of Maryland Martin O'Malley—feel that a hotel adjacent to the Convention Center will make it a more appealing site for conventions. The completed construction of a new Washington Convention Center and the National Harbor project in Prince George's County have intensified the debate.

In general, supporters of a convention hotel say that for the Convention Center to be viable in the future, and compete with other cities for conventions, a new, "Headquarters" hotel is necessary to guarantee enough rooms for group meetings. Opponents of the hotel project have either questioned the necessity of a new hotel altogether, or objected to the use of public dollars to finance the project.

The Baltimore Convention Center hotel broke ground in February 2006. The hotel's name is Hilton Baltimore, and it is connected to the Convention Center. Baltimore City used public revenue bonds to cover the $301.7 million cost of building the hotel, which has 752 rooms and is the city's largest hotel. It opened in August 2008.

(See Baltimore Convention Center Hotel Project for more details regarding the Convention Center hotel.)