I took a tour of the facility today.  You can see my construction pics from May here: http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,27304.0.html

Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The green drywall is the corridor with display rooms on each side.

 

Junior Ballroom

 

Exhibit floor

 

 

The track where the exhibit hall divider will run

 

One of two entrances to Public Auditorium

 

 

Escalators down from the MM

 

 

Looking up at the main Lakeside Ave. lobby

 

 

 

Passageway to the Grand Ballroom

 

Grand Ballroom

 

Looking toward the ballroom from the pre-dinner bar area

 

Truck dock and exterior entrance

 

Mall C

 

 

 

 

A landscaping tree planter bathtub

 

 

Playing in the dirt on Mall B

 

The styrofoam ranges in thickness from 2 feet to 7 feet.  They have driven fully loaded cement trucks over the large white blocks.  It is intended to cut down on the roof weight instead of filling it all with soil.  One person can move a block and leave a fingernail indent, yet the compressive strength is re-God-damn-diculous.

 

Up on the main entry roof ramp with views at the top.

 

 

Thanks for the Great update.

 

does anyone know if the malls will be open before the convention center opens?  It seems like they could eventually have the mall open while working on the inside

Wow. The more I see this project constructed the happier I am with it. Its going to be a major boost to an underutilized piece of downtown.

 

I am more and more anxious to see what the green space will look like.

Very nice - such a difference from the former exhibit hall with the huge and obtrusive support columns.

Excellent tour. Some of these views emphasize a big selling point for Cleveland; the compact character of downtown puts many of Cleveland's iconic structures in an area where they all can be encompassed in one photo. It's an imposing CBD that mixes classic buildings with some striking newer ones, and this is a major element of it.

Awesome shots, thanks!  I really like the strong north/south pedestrian axis on either side of the mall.  Goes a long way towards making up for the "break" in the mall at Lakeside.

Lookin' pretty good!

Thanks for the update. Im also excited to see the greenspace when its done.