Columbus is gearing up for what could be a serious makeover of its convention core, with Franklin County's convention authority launching a full-scale planning effort for the Greater Columbus Convention Center and the surrounding campus. The study will look at adding hotel rooms, improving how people move around the district and updating aging systems inside the massive facility, all with an eye toward staying competitive for major national events and deciding where public and private dollars should flow over the next decade.
Convention Authority Gears Up To Hire Master Planners
Later this quarter, the Franklin County Convention Facilities Authority plans to issue a Request for Qualifications to bring on a consultant team to craft a campus-wide master plan. The RFQ will ask teams to study current conditions, project future needs, and suggest ways to boost guest experience, tighten up campus connectivity and improve sustainability, as outlined by the Franklin County Convention Facilities Authority.
More Hotel Rooms and Better Links Top the Wish List
The authority’s owner has already signaled that more hotel rooms and stronger pedestrian and transit connections are at the top of the priority list, a focus first reported by Columbus Business First. That push follows a decade of public support for hotel financing, including legislation that authorized bond structures for a prior Hilton expansion, a pattern documented in City Council records.
Big Capital Needs Add Pressure to the Timeline
A facility condition assessment completed last year flagged significant deferred work, and local reporting puts the short-term renovation bill at nearly $190 million across the convention center and Nationwide Arena. As WOSU reported, the authority’s studies point to hundreds of millions more in long-term capital needs. The Convention Center’s roughly 1.8 million square feet, along with the location of nearby garages and loading docks, will heavily influence where any new hotels or circulation upgrades can realistically go, according to columbusconventions.com.
RFQ Schedule and Who Gets a Say
The authority says the RFQ will be posted on its procurement page later this quarter, with the planning effort set to include outreach to facility operators, hospitality leaders and neighboring institutions. The chosen team will be tasked with producing a multi-year roadmap to help the Franklin County Convention Facilities Authority line up project priorities and potential funding strategies, according to the agency’s description of the process.
What a Revamped Campus Could Mean for Downtown
If the master plan ultimately steers more hotel rooms and better walkways into the district, downtown restaurants, bars and event vendors could see a lift from added bookings and smoother movement between venues. Columbus is already promoting a lineup of major conventions and sporting events in the coming years, demand that helped drive the timing of this planning push, according to Experience Columbus.
