Rendering of the new DECC and Elm Street Plaza, showing the skybridge to the headquarters hotel.
Already established as a hub for sports, entertainment and the arts, Cincinnati plans to completely renovate its convention center by 2025, further strengthening all three while also placing it at the center of a complete convention district that will include a headquarters hotel.
Preview is old Duke Energy Convention Center (DECC) will take place on July 16, 2024, with local, county and state officials in attendance to watch the first tile be dropped and the center begin to transform into a work zone, before emerging as a $240 million reconstruction in late 2025.
There was prior discussion about keeping the DECC open through the renovations, but that idea was rejected in favor of a more direct and ultimately quicker approach of continuing work through 2025. In the meantime, the city’s convention business will be based at the nearby Sharonville Convention Center And just across the Ohio River from Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky Convention Center.
“We embrace this moment of necessary change,” Jeff Berding said. Visit Cincinnati The board vice chairman addressed the crowd: “This change will improve the quality and raise the bar of our conventions and trade shows. We want to not only compete with our peer cities, but surpass them.”
The new DECC, which is already accepting bookings from 2026 onwards, will have the following features:
- Outdoor plaza, Elm Street Plazaconnecting to programmable park spaces.
- Energy-efficient exhibition and meeting spaces incorporating the latest sustainable technologies.
- Our newly renovated ballroom offers elegant and flexible event space.
- A daylight-filled pre-function area for gathering and networking.
- A rooftop terrace with stunning views of Cincinnati and additional space for special events.
Plans are further underway to build an entire convention district around the new convention center, including a headquarters hotel in 2027 that will be connected to the center by a skybridge.
“When completed, it will generate $48 million in new business,” said Julie Calvert, president and CEO of the Cincinnati Convention and Visitors Bureau. “A healthy convention district means growth and a year-round convention season.”
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