Missouri.

KANSAS CITY 

Hotel completes renovation. The 236-room Embassy Suites Hotel Kansas City International Airport recently completed a three-year, $3 million renovation. The hotel's 10,656-square-foot ballroom received an upgraded, contemporary look, and new hard goods and soft goods were added to each guest suite. The hotel offers 14,400 square feet of meeting space.

K.C. Airport upgrade nearing completion. The Kansas City International Airport is in the midst of a four-year, $185 million project that is completely upgrading its three terminal buildings with consolidated preflight holding areas, new ticketing areas, and other passenger convenience considerations. Phase I of the project was completed in summer 2002 when new gates and retail-restaurant operations opened in the updated portion of Terminal B. Other airport projects have addressed various structural, operational, and aesthetic upgrades.

Center upgrade among several major downtown K.C. projects. The ongoing renovation and expansion of the Kansas City Convention Center is among several large downtown projects under way in Kansas City. The center's renovation and technology upgrades are on schedule for a late 2004 completion, while the centerpiece of the 135,000-square-foot Bartle Hall expansion, a new 40,000-square-foot ballroom with more than 35,000 square feet of pre-function space, will open by late 2006.

Opening next to the convention center in 2007 will be the new Metropolitan Kansas City Performing Arts Center. The $304 million landmark building will be the new home of the Kansas City Symphony and Lyric Opera. Opening adjacent to the new performing arts complex in 2005 will be the Kansas City Ballet Center, a $16 million facility.

H & R Block is building a new world headquarters facility that will anchor a new seven-block downtown entertainment district. The $400 million development is scheduled for completion in late 2006. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art is also expected to complete a $200 million expansion in 2006.

SPRINGFIELD

New hotel to open near center. John Q. Hammons Hotels is building a Holiday Inn Express near the new Springfield Exposition Center. The 120-room Holiday Inn will open in spring 2005 with 1,000 square feet of meeting space. The Springfield Exposition Center opened last September with 45,000 square feet of clear-span exposition space that can be configured into three separate meeting areas and seven breakout rooms. It is adjacent to Jordan Valley Park, which includes the new Hammons Field, an 8,100-seat, minor league baseball stadium that opened in April with 28 private suites and three party decks. Jordan Valley Park also includes a park, ice arena, office and retail space, and parking. Construction also is under way on the Springfield 3-D IMAX Theatre that is scheduled to open late this year.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

New flights added at airport. New air service recently debuted at the Springfield-Branson Regional Airport. The Delta Connection began operating direct flights from Springfield to its hub in Cincinnati in April. This month, Northwest Airlines will initiate two daily nonstop flights between Springfield and Minneapolis--St. Paul. The airport also is in the planning stages for a new midfield airport.

ST. CHARLES

Convention center-hotel complex opens in 2005. Construction is under way for a $71.3 million convention center and hotel complex that is expected to open in St. Charles in spring 2005. The St. Charles Convention Center will feature a 60,000-square-foot exhibit hall, 15 meeting rooms, 1,100 surface parking spaces, business center, cyber cafe, and bandwidth wireless Internet access and video-conferencing capabilities.

The new 300-room Embassy Suites Hotel--St. Charles will offer 5,200 square feet of meeting space and all of the upscale amenities found in an Embassy Suites property. The hotel will be adjacent to the convention center. The complex will be located only 15 minutes from the Lambert--St. Louis International Airport and 30 minutes from downtown St. Louis.

ST. LOUIS

New ballpark, entertainment district under development. St. Louis will get a new ballpark and adjacent entertainment district in 2006. The $380 million project will create a baseball-only ballpark and redevelop a five-block area on the south end of downtown called Ballpark Village, a mixed-use development that will include shops, restaurants, nightclubs, residential housing, and offices. Ballpark Village will be located less than one mile south of the America's Center convention complex. Overall, more than $2 billion in development is just finished or under way in downtown St. Louis.

St. Louis hotels open, renovate. St. Louis is in the midst of a hotel development boom as several hotels have opened recently or significantly upgraded their facilities. The 910-room Adam's Mark St. Louis is in the midst of a major upgrade that is adding high-speed Internet access to all rooms that can support a virtual private network and T-1 level service. The downtown hotel's 76,000 square feet of meeting space also is equipped the handle high-speed connectivity. Adam's Mark also is upgrading each guest room with new furniture, bathroom vanities, bedding, artwork, wall coverings, and drapes. The project should be complete by spring 2005.

This summer, the 195-room Hilton St. Louis Downtown hotel opens in the historic Merchants--Laclede Building. The Hilton at Fourth and Olive streets will include a ground-level restaurant and retail space, 4,000 square feet of meeting space, a business center, and high-speed Internet access. Located just six blocks from the America's Center convention complex, the Hilton will incorporate the building's original bank vaults into its lobby as a gift shop and Internet cafe. Overall, more than 2,400 hotel rooms have been added to the St. Louis downtown core in the past four years.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Other new hotel projects include an expansion and renovation of the Mayfair Hotel that will create a new, 19-story tower, a 120-room Hampton Inn that is opening this summer adjacent to the city's historic Forest Park, and a 200-room hotel as part of the $200 million casino complex Pinnacle Entertainment is developing in the Laclede's Landing entertainment district.

Zoo opens new meeting facilities. The St. Louis Zoo recently opened its McDonnell Center at River Camp, a meetings facility that includes three combinable rooms that can accommodate up to 200 people. The three rooms are equipped with high-speed Internet access and the latest presentation technology, and they feature floor-to-ceiling windows that overlook waterfalls, wildflowers, and some of the zoo's animal displays.