DCU Center - Expansion, Convention Center

Expansion, Convention Center

The facility expanded in 1997 with the opening of an attached state-of-the-art convention center that features panoramic views of downtown Worcester. The complex, described as an architectural gem, added 50,000 square feet (4,600 m2) of exhibit space, 11 meeting rooms, a 12,144-square-foot (1,128.2 m2) ballroom (the largest in Central Massachusetts) and a state-of-the-art kitchen. The facility’s 100,000-plus square feet of exhibit space is filled by consumer shows, trade shows, conventions, conferences, and other public and private functions year-round. An additional headquarters hotel for the facility, the Hilton Garden, opened in October 2006 doubling the number of rooms previously available in the facility’s other headquarters hotel, the former Crowne Plaza that closed in 2009.