I had to drop off some packages at our airport's USPS office and I realized that every time I go there, I drive by a pretty interesting piece of Cleveland history, so now...it's time to share.The Cleveland International Exposition Center is the Cleveland version of McCormick Place in Chicago. This is the area's biggest exhibition space, and 9th largest convention center in the world.
In addition to being the 9th largest in the world, it's also the 1st largest in the world. How? Well, just add a bit of text about "single building" or "continuous space" and that's all you need, really. McCormick Place is significantly bigger, but it's made up of lots of buildings connected together. The IX Center (as it's commonly known) is a single, humongous building with one million square feet of con
tiguous exhibition space. So, yeah, it's big.
It's home to the annual home and garden show, as well as the auto show. Throw in a dog show or two, a springtime indoor amusement park (complete with a permanent 125-foot high ferris wheel), boat shows, food shows, specialty exhibitions and conventions, and you can see that this place is usually busy.
Now, I mentioned above that this place is usually referred to as the IX Center.
But that was not always the case.
In the 40's it was more commonly known as "the Cleveland Bomber Plant".
Yes, this home of dogs looking for ribbons and boats looking for deep pockets was once home to General Motors, owned by the Department of Defense, and was used to make B-29 bombers. After the war, it became (surprise!) an exhibition center, then, oddly enough, a storage location for soybeans.
But thankfully (for the area economy anyway) the Korean war came to be, and with it a demand for more heavy weaponry. So back came GM, along with a name change from "the Cleveland Bomber Plant" to "the Cadillac Tank Plant" (which of course can bring about lots of jokes and comments about why Cadillacs feel like they're built like a tank).
During this time, several tank, howitzer and armored carrier models were produced, including the somewhat controversial M-551 Sheridan.
After the GM contract dried up, the plant was decommissioned by the DOD and bought by Park Corp. of Charleston, VA in 1972. And it's been a convention/exhibition center ever since.
Often, there are multiple shows or
conventions being held at the same time. With multiple main entrances and 96 acres of land for the building and parking, it can accomodate quite a few people.
Recently, it got the addition of a big, flashy sign right before one of its entrances. So drive by it today, and you can see Cleveland's own Michael Symon right there in big, beautiful color. Yep...food show obviously coming to town. And it may be hard to believe, but Cleveland really is a bit of a foodie town. But that will have to wait for another post.
But there IS another convention center in the Cleveland area...right in downtown Cleveland, actually. But it's microscopic compared to the IX beast (think space for the Antiques Roadshow rather than a fullblown car show). There has been talk of building a newer, nicer one in town, but so far it's been the equivalent of vaporware.
And speaking of "newer, nicer" the IX Center did get a minor facelift recently with the addition of 27,000 gallons of paint. But it still looks dreary. Even with the parking lot filled and the ferris wheel running (which is so big it actually sticks UP out of the top of the building; you can see it in the first picture) it still looks dull and depressing.
But it's still an impressive structure and it still brings decent money to the Cleveland area.
So overall...ugly, but useful.
Just like the tanks it used to build.
tiguous exhibition space. So, yeah, it's big.It's home to the annual home and garden show, as well as the auto show. Throw in a dog show or two, a springtime indoor amusement park (complete with a permanent 125-foot high ferris wheel), boat shows, food shows, specialty exhibitions and conventions, and you can see that this place is usually busy.
Now, I mentioned above that this place is usually referred to as the IX Center.
But that was not always the case.
In the 40's it was more commonly known as "the Cleveland Bomber Plant".
Yes, this home of dogs looking for ribbons and boats looking for deep pockets was once home to General Motors, owned by the Department of Defense, and was used to make B-29 bombers. After the war, it became (surprise!) an exhibition center, then, oddly enough, a storage location for soybeans.
But thankfully (for the area economy anyway) the Korean war came to be, and with it a demand for more heavy weaponry. So back came GM, along with a name change from "the Cleveland Bomber Plant" to "the Cadillac Tank Plant" (which of course can bring about lots of jokes and comments about why Cadillacs feel like they're built like a tank).
During this time, several tank, howitzer and armored carrier models were produced, including the somewhat controversial M-551 Sheridan.
After the GM contract dried up, the plant was decommissioned by the DOD and bought by Park Corp. of Charleston, VA in 1972. And it's been a convention/exhibition center ever since.
Often, there are multiple shows or
conventions being held at the same time. With multiple main entrances and 96 acres of land for the building and parking, it can accomodate quite a few people.Recently, it got the addition of a big, flashy sign right before one of its entrances. So drive by it today, and you can see Cleveland's own Michael Symon right there in big, beautiful color. Yep...food show obviously coming to town. And it may be hard to believe, but Cleveland really is a bit of a foodie town. But that will have to wait for another post.
But there IS another convention center in the Cleveland area...right in downtown Cleveland, actually. But it's microscopic compared to the IX beast (think space for the Antiques Roadshow rather than a fullblown car show). There has been talk of building a newer, nicer one in town, but so far it's been the equivalent of vaporware.
And speaking of "newer, nicer" the IX Center did get a minor facelift recently with the addition of 27,000 gallons of paint. But it still looks dreary. Even with the parking lot filled and the ferris wheel running (which is so big it actually sticks UP out of the top of the building; you can see it in the first picture) it still looks dull and depressing.
But it's still an impressive structure and it still brings decent money to the Cleveland area.
So overall...ugly, but useful.
Just like the tanks it used to build.
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