OREGON.

PORTLAND

Expansion of the Oregon Convention Center began earlier this year, and will increase the center's trade show and convention capacity by 60 percent when completed in April 2003. The project will add 105,000 square feet of exhibition space, a 35,000-Square-foot ballroom, nearly 30 new breakout rooms, and more.

Portland's Metropolitan Exposition Center recently completed reconstruction of Hall D to include a two-floor lobby and atrium skylight, meeting rooms totaling nearly 6,000 square feet, and 72,000 square feet of column-free exhibit space. The Expo's 60-acre site includes four interconnected buildings with total exhibit space of 345,000 square feet.

Getting around the city is about to go from easy to easier, with several transportation projects in the works. Portland's award-winning MAX light-rail system is expanding to Portland International Airport, with service scheduled to begin this September. The $125 million extension adds four new stations and more than miles of track to the existing 33-mile system. A new streetcar system will link Portland's downtown Cultural District, the Pearl District, the Northwest/Nob Hill neighborhood, and Portland State University beginning July 2001. As with city buses and MAX light-rail trains, there will be no fee to ride the streetcar in Portland's 300-block Fareless Square. In September, the free zone will expand to include additional stops, including the Oregon Convention Center.

FREE-TIME FUN

The new Classical Chinese Garden is the largest of its kind outside China. An urban oasis, the garden occupies an entire city block and incorporates serpentine walkways, ponds, bridges, a tea house, and a meticulous landscape of unusual rocks and plants.