Construction crews continue to change the landscape of downtown Cleveland with visible progress on the Medical Mart facility. With steel erection completed, crews have been setting the 515 concrete exterior panels, beginning along the northern side of the future facility and now working on the west side. On the site of the future Convention Center, crews are making visible progress on structural steel erection on the Exhibit Hall roof. Turner Construction reports that three steel tree columns and box trusses were installed this week, upping the total to nine out of 20 massive support structures. With the installation of steel tree columns and box trusses, crews are also hanging steel columns and adding metal decking for the future Convention Center roof and Mall B surface on the center section just north of St. Clair Avenue.

Small boutique hotels are popular in many American cities - and internationally. Now, several such hotel chains are planning to open facilities in downtown Cleveland. According to Downtown Cleveland Alliance President Joe Marinucci, Cleveland's new casino, medical mart, convention center and other downtown development are creating a new market for hoteliers.

Between the new Horseshoe Casino Cleveland, Medical Mart and Convention Center, Aquarium, hotels, restaurants and other attractions there is more than $2 billion worth of visitor-related attractions that are coming on line. How to capitalize on this attention and make sure those visitors experiences are memorable ones is the focus behind a new effort revealed Tuesday by Positively Cleveland.

We've all heard the story. Cleveland, Ohio, like many other Rust Belt cities, has struggled mightily in the aftermath of the demise of heavy manufacturing. For those not paying attention, Cleveland would seem to be a doomed city destined for a continual decline. But this is not the case. Right now, the city of Cleveland is undergoing a dramatic transformation, the likes of which America hasn't seen since the rebirth of New York City in the early 1990s. Currently there is over $6 billion in new developments taking place in the core city, with more on the way. 

Northern Ohio is a unique Midwestern region encompassing locales equipped for large-scale conventions, intimate retreats and everything in between. Cleveland is fast becoming a special niche market for medical meetings, and associations, corporate groups and regional gatherings have all found Akron, Toledo and other group-friendly destinations in the region to be easily accessible and full of the appropriate amenities for successful events.

On the Medical Mart, two of the most visible and dramatic signs of progress are the extensive metal decking work on the roof of the facility and the placing of the exterior pre-cast wall panels on the north side of the future structure. On the top floor of the Medical Mart, metal decking continues at the roof of the Service Penthouses and in the cantilevered showcase wings and at the Atrium Bridges. Meanwhile, on the north façade of the future Medical Mart, crews continue to place exterior wall panels. All of the 515 pre-cast wall panels have been fabricated and are ready for installation on the exterior of the building.

On the site of the future Convention Center just north of St. Clair Avenue, crews have erected five of the 24 large steel box trusses, attaching them to the main tree columns. Turner Construction expects to complete 1-2 box trusses each week. The installation of the field trusses continues as well.

On the Medical Mart site, the Atrium Bridge installation and Metal decking continues at the roof of the Service Penthouses and in the cantilevered showcase wings. Concrete flooring has been poured and is now completed through the Penthouse level. The setting of the Medical Mart façade panels along the north side of the Mart continued this week. In the Exhibit Hall area just north of St. Clair Avenue, four of the 24 massive steel box trusses have been erected.  The main tree columns in the Exhibit Hall continue to be erected in advance of the box trusses. Crews anticipate erecting 1-2 box trusses each week. The installation of the field trusses also began last week.  The process should continue through May when the steel erection phase is slated for completion.
 

With the majority of steel erection completed on the four-story Medical Mart complex, construction crews have been busily pouring concrete on all four levels of the facility. Crews completed the structural steel erection of the southeast showroom late last week, allowing for a concrete pour on the slab-on-metal deck at the south half of Showroom Level 3. Crews have been completing the metal deck detailing and installation of the shear studs on the Penthouse level, to be followed by concrete placements. Installation of supports and hangers for the plumbing, mechanical and electrical continues on Showroom Level 2.