Raleigh Convention Center
The Raleigh Convention Center is a convention and exhibition facility in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina that opened in September 2008. The architect was Tvsdesign with the participation of local firms O'Brien/Atkins Associates and Clearscapes. Description. Located at 500 South Salisbury Street, the three-level building contains a exhibit hall, twenty meeting rooms and a ballroom. The ballroom on the highest level can seat up to 2,715 persons (banquet-style) or 3,630 persons (theater-style). The exhibit hall on the lowest level can hold up to 790 booths or seat up to 6,800 persons (banquet-style) or  9,600 persons (theater-style). Extensive acoustics work was performed to not only provide sound isolation between adjacent activities within the center, but also to control noise output to the surrounding community. The facility is more than double the size of the older convention center that was erected in 1977, renovated in 1997, and torn down in February 2006. There had been controversy about the older building as well as the site of the new building. The building cost $225 million to construct. A new Marriott hotel named Marriott City Center was built to provide lodging for visitors and now  connects to the Convention Center. The west-facing wall of the new convention center boasts a large public art piece called the 'Shimmer Wall', which was completed in 2009. It contains 80,000 aluminum panels backed by LED lights. The piece is 44 feet tall and 210 feet wide. It is a work of a local artist Thomas Sayre. 'Shimmer Wall' features a giant oak tree, which represents Raleigh's nickname, the 'City of Oaks'. The wall was sponsored by Cree Inc., a local company that manufactures LED lights. National Agents Alliance held its NAA Leadership Conference on Sept. 11-14 , 2008 and was the first convention held in the new center. Downtown Raleigh Amphitheater. On June 4, 2010 the City opened the Downtown Raleigh Amphitheater adjacent to the Convention Center, which seats around about 6,000. It got a sponsor name (Red Hat) in September 2012.