More than half of nearly $9 million in renovations to the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock are complete, putting the project on pace to finish in the summer of 2025, the Little Rock Convention & Visitors Bureau announced.
Completed interior updates include:
- A remodeled main entrance with two LED walls that provide information to visitors
- Updated electronic wayfinding and signage
- New carpet, freshly painted walls and updated shadowbox décor in the corridor leading to 80,167-SF exhibition hall and other meeting areas
- Network enhancements that provide increased bandwidth and advanced security measures
- Programmable LED accent lighting and overhead lighting in the Wally Allen Ballroom
- The first phase of three phases of aesthetic-focused bathroom renovations
- Updated furniture in many areas
Ongoing or scheduled renovations include:
- New airwalls in the Wally Allen Ballroom that will allow the space to be flexibly divided into as many as five separate rooms
- New carpet and wallcoverings for the Wally Allen Ballroom
- Conversion of payphone banks to workstations with charging ports for electronic devices
The LRCVB, which manages the 220,000-SF center, said the project will help “maintain Little Rock’s status as a desirable host city for meetings and conventions.”
The convention center was built in 1980 on the former sites of the Grady Manning Hotel and Marion Hotel. A 117,000-SF expansion in 1999 brought the facility to its current size.
Renovations and a possible expansion of the convention center were recommended in the LRCVB’s 10-year master plan. The 60-page report, released in January 2023, identified higher utilization of the Statehouse Convention Center as a top priority.
An analysis found that in the three years before the COVID-19 pandemic, utilization of the facility was about 45% in total, the report says. LRCVB aims to increase utilization to 60% over the next five years, an “aggressive goal” that would still be below the national benchmark of 70%.
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