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July 4, 2007, Vancouver Convention & Exhibition Centre
VCEC celebrates its 20th anniversary: B.C.'s successful flagship convention centre opened its doors 20 years ago today
The Vancouver Convention & Exhibition Centre (VCEC) is celebrating two decades of hosting meetings, conventions and exhibitions — a combined total of 7,597 events and more than $3.8 billion in estimated economic impact for British Columbia.
"Over the past two decades, the VCEC has become a world leader in hosting major meetings, conventions, and exhibitions, and we are committed to continuing to create economic and community benefits for British Columbia," said Barbara Maple, VCEC president.
Maple added: "The major Centre expansion now underway would simply not have happened without the tremendous success that the facility has enjoyed in the diversity of markets we have pursued over the past 20 years. Because of expansion, we'll be able to attract an even larger number of delegates to B.C. and host events we had to turn away in the past due to lack of available space or dates."
"This landmark facility has been a large part of British Columbia's evolution from Expo '86 all the way to where we are today," said the Honourable Stan Hagen, minister of tourism, sport and the arts. "As we stand on the brink of one of the most exciting periods in our province's history, it's set to again play a pivotal role in the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, and subsequently lead us into a new era of convention business as we take advantage of the profile and capabilities that 2010 will generate. It's a fitting time to reflect on some of the achievements of the VCEC that helped to bring this all about."
Hosting more than 300 events per year, the VCEC welcomes delegates from all over the world and in 2002 was named "World's Best Convention Centre" as the recipient of the International AIPC Apex Award from the Brussels-based International Association of Congress Centres (AIPC). Its current size — 133,000 square feet — makes the VCEC a small facility relative to many of competitors. However, its downtown waterfront location and recognized service quality give it a big advantage when bidding for business.
"The demands of the market have enabled us to operate at effective capacity for many years," said Maple. "However, our high profile created pent-up demand, which we'll now be able to fulfill. As a result, we see huge new business potential for the next 20 years with a much more competitive facility to sell."
About the VCEC
Since opening in 1987, the Vancouver Convention & Exhibition Centre has been British Columbia's flagship convention facility. In fiscal year 2007, the VCEC hosted 350 events and 745,000 delegate days and generated more than $240 million in economic impact for the province of B.C. When its major expansion completes, the VCEC will offer a combined total of nearly 500,000 square feet of function space and will serve as the main media centre for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in 2010.
For more information, visit www.vcec.ca.
20 Facts for 20 Years
In 20 years at the VCEC:
- 7,597 events, 11.5 million delegate days, and $3.8 billion in economic impact to B.C.
- Following Expo 86, the Canada Pavilion was reconfigured and re-opened on July 4, 1987 as the Vancouver Trade & Convention Centre. It was renamed the Vancouver Convention & Exhibition Centre in the 1990s to better reflect its role.
- First international event: The World Culinary Arts Festival was held just days after the VCEC opened its doors.
- Smallest event: Boris Yeltsin, president of Russia, and Bill Clinton, president of the United States, held a two-person summit in 1993.
- Largest event: Aga Khan "Visit 2005" with more than 40,000 attendees. The centre also hosted the Aga Khan in 1992.
- Most creative configuration: To accommodate 12,000 attendees, VCEC staff converted part of the cruise ship level into function space for the World Dental Congress in 1994.
- Repeat business: Six clients have held 20 consecutive events at the VCEC including the CanWest Horticultural Show, Truck Loggers Association of BC, Pacific Dental Conference, Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival, and the Circle Craft Christmas Market.
- 6.2 million guests have been served at VCEC since 1987, which amounts to the entire B.C. population visiting the facility 1.5 times.
- In 20 years, the VCEC has spent more than $36 million with local food and beverage purveyors to provide products for chefs to create the facility's menus from scratch.
- 5.8 million cups of coffee and 30,000 cases of wine have been consumed in the last 20 years.
- The VCEC received the prestigious International APEX Award for "World's Best Convention Centre" in 2002.
- The existing VCEC offers 133,000 square feet of function space, but expansion will triple its size to nearly 500,000 square feet.
- A glass-enclosed connector will seamlessly integrate VCEC East (existing facility) with VCEC West (expansion facility).
- The entire facility will serve as the main media centre for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in 2010.
- The new building (VCEC West) is 132 feet high and 40 per cent is built over water.
- Building the expansion facility requires four acres of structural glass, 20,000 tons of structural steel, 6,700 tons of rebar and 26,000 cubic metres of concrete.
- Post-expansion, the entire area will cover four city blocks (1.1 million square feet) and will include a two-acre public plaza and 83,000 square feet of restaurants, retail, and attractions.
- Built for sustainable design, the facility will feature seawater heating and cooling, on-site water treatment, grey and black water recycling systems, and energy conservation strategies, including natural lighting and ventilation.
- The expansion's unique marine habitat design won the 2006 Environmental Concept Award.
- Its six-acre living roof — equal to 15 hockey rinks — will consist of 400,000 indigenous plants and will contain drainage and water recovery systems.
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