Location Washington, D.C. Parking Pay parking nearby | Opened 2003 Phone +1 202-249-3000 | |
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Public transit access Mount Vernon Square station Address 801 Mt Vernon Pl NW, Washington, DC 20001, USA Similar Washington Marriott Marquis, Henley Park Hotel, Robert F Kennedy Memorial, Atlas Performing Arts Center, National Mall Profiles | ||
The Walter E. Washington Convention Center is a 2,300,000-square-foot (210,000 m2) convention center located in Washington, D.C., owned and operated by the city's convention arm, Events DC. Designed in a joint venture by the Atlanta-based architecture firm Thompson, Ventulett, Stainback & Associates, Washington, DC- based architects Devrouax & Purnell Architects Planners PC and Mariani and Assocites, the convention center is located in a superblock bounded by Mount Vernon Square and 7th, 9th and N streets, N.W. It is served by the Mount Vernon Square station on the Yellow and Green lines of the Washington Metro. It was completed in 2003.
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Major events
Six of the nine official inaugural balls for the 2005 second inauguration of George W. Bush were held at the convention center.
In 2006, the Council of the District of Columbia approved legislation naming the then-Washington Convention Center in honor of the city's first home rule mayor, the late Walter E. Washington. In 2008, the WCSA Board of Directors agreed to expand the newly built convention center by 75,000 square feet (7,000 m2).
Six of the 10 official balls of the 2009 Presidential Inauguration of Barack Obama took place there, including the first-ever Neighborhood Ball.
The center was the principal site of the 2010 Nuclear Security Summit hosted by President Barack Obama.
On November 10, 2011, ground was broken on the 14-story Washington Marriott Marquis, a $520 million, four-star, 1,175-room "convention center headquarters hotel" with more than 100,000 square feet (9,300 m2) of meeting room space.
In 2013, it was announced that the Walter E. Washington Convention Center would be the 5 year host of Otakon, the Japanese and East Asian culture convention that was held since 1999 in the Baltimore Convention Center in Baltimore, Maryland, starting with Otakon 2017 and going at least until Otakon 2021 which was considered to be a "great win" for Washington D.C.'s convention business with an estimated $25 million annual revenue for D.C. and over 30,000 visitors expected during the time Otakon is in D.C.
Since 2014 the National Book Festival has been held at the center.
In 2016, Otakon revealed at their Road to D.C. panel part of Otakon 2016 that the Walter E. Washington Convention Center will actually be the 8 year host of Otakon, starting with Otakon 2017 and going through at least until Otakon 2024.
The old Washington Convention Center
The previous Washington Convention Center was located one block southwest at 909 H Street NW, occupying the city block bounded by New York Avenue, 9th Street, H Street and 11th Street. Construction on the center began in 1980, and it opened on December 10, 1982. At 800,000 square feet (74,000 m2), it was the fourth largest facility in the United States at the time. However, during the 1980s and 1990s, numerous larger and more modern facilities were constructed around the country, and by 1997 the Washington Convention Center was only the 30th largest facility.
After being replaced by the new Walter E. Washington Convention Center, the old convention center was imploded at approximately 7:30 a.m. on December 18, 2004.