Renovations to Monterey Conference Center near completion

The highly anticipated Monterey Conference Center renovations are almost complete.

The first conference is being held this week, with only the bottom floor rooms open. General manager, Doug Phillips says the exterior, plaza and second floor are where most of the changes are being made.

The building, which opened in the 1970’s has been under construction for nearly two years. Many calling the renovations long overdue.

William Imboden, who is visiting from Fairfield says he’s been to the center multiple times and likes what he sees. “The changes they’ve made with the lobby between the Portola and the conference center and the access the conference center itself looks nice, I’m anxious to be able to use the second floor at some point,” says Imboden.

Phillips said it hasn’t been an easy road getting this $60 million renovation finished, “it was a long process because funding was a major issue it was delayed due to just renovation issues, as we all know renovations never go according to plan. Last winter didn’t help with all of the rain so there were a number of factors that delayed the project.”

The project is being funded by the Conference Center Facilities District.

Completion is expected to be done by the end of December. Phillips says once everything is finished it will not only bring more businesses to the Conference Center, but will help the local economy too. “We think that it’s not only going to attract a lot of new business but continued to bring in some of the clients, like the group that we have in today, who have been coming to Monterey for years. When you’ve got 2000 people in the city of Monterey downtown it’s going to have a major
economic impact,” says Phillips.

Businesses in the area tell me they are expecting more customers with it being open. Assistant Manager of Cafe Lumiere, Justin SantaCruz says he expects it to bring more foot traffic, “I feel like it’s going to affect business a lot, usually when there is a conference in town, we get really busy and really slammed and then we just have lines out the door sometimes.”

The center will be able to hold about 3,000 people once both floors are open.

The grand opening is set for January of 2018.

For more information on the Conference Center or to book an event click here.