Edinburgh International Conference Centre set to expand
The EICC is about to attract its millionth delegate since 1995
BOSSES at the main conference and events centre in Scotland’s capital have revealed it is about to attract its millionth delegate – as new images were revealed showing how it will be transformed by a massive underground extension.
The revamp will see the venue stage snooker tournaments, boxing bouts and concerts for the first time. More than £300 million worth of economic impact has now been notched up at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre since it opened its doors in 1995.
And a further £2.3 billion is anticipated over the next 30 years, according to official figures produced for the complex.
However, the EICC is already said to have missed out on many major events due to a lack of a capacity and the need for more modern facilities.
Edinburgh rose as high as ninth in the official league table compiled by the Amsterdam-based International Congress and Convention Association in the wake of the original EICC opening, but had plummeted to 36 by last year, although it has since recovered to claim 29th spot. The revamp, which will also see a seven-storey office development built alongside the existing complex, is running at least six years late, with the expansion plans first unveiled in 2001.
Banqueting capacity will more than double from 950 to about 2,000 under the current overhaul, while 1,800 will be able to attend conferences, compared to the current cap of 1,200.
And the £85m project will see the centre boast a new floor moving system that can create raised catwalks, raked seating platforms and arena configurations in a fraction of the build-time of normal venues.
Plans for the expansion were first approved in 2006, only for the developers of the scheme to pull out the following year.
Attempts to revive the venture were stalled by the economic downturn before a rescue package led by the city council.
Hans Rissman, the EICC’s chief executive, said: “The new facilities will be much more flexible than what we have at present.
“We’ve already had a lot of interest, with several events booked in from next summer onwards and conferences confirmed as far ahead as 2020 at the moment. We will be able to have 1,600 people at an arena event like a boxing dinner and as many as 2,000 for a gala dinner.”
The EICC development is one of several flagship projects tourism leaders in the city believe will boost Edinburgh’s chances of capturing major events and conventions over the next few years, along with the new facilities at the National Museum of Scotland, the revamped Assembly Rooms and the promised improvements at the Royal Highland Showground.
Sue Stuart, head of Marketing Edinburgh’s convention bureau, said: “The expansion of the EICC has been a real priority for the city for some time.
“The kind of facilities it will have are now commonplace elsewhere and will make a big difference to what the city can offer. There has been no shortage of people wanting to bring events here, but the infrastructure has not been there for some of the larger events.”
Meanwhile, agents handling the 100,000 sq ft of office space that will be created under the expanded EICC say the development will be the final piece in the jigsaw of Edinburgh’s financial district, which first started to take shape in the early 1990s.
Hugh Rutherford, partner at Montagu Evans, joint letting agent, added: “Despite there still being a year to go until completion, we have received a healthy level of early inquiries.”
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Thursday 23 February 2012
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Comments
There are 3 comments to this article
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insiderscoop
Friday, January 27, 2012 at 01:04 PMDid not think the Convention Bureau had a head at present. Well by looking at the website that is...
Velv
Friday, January 27, 2012 at 09:26 AMOnce Scotland gains independence I can foresee the Socttish Government banning the barbaric sport of boxing, so the EICC should be careful when they line this venue up for such events
Charles Linskaill
Friday, January 27, 2012 at 01:58 AMI've been watching the New International Conference Centre's Extension being constructed, At a Cost of £85m, It's all being made out of a 'metal-construction, It is rather overpriced, which we all have to pay for, And no one's mobile phone will work there.
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