Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center

The Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center and Lila Cockrell Theater along the San Antonio River Walk. The Tower of the Americas is visible in the background.

The Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center (formerly San Antonio Convention Center) is a convention center in Downtown San Antonio, Texas, along the banks of the River Walk.

Another look at the Gonzalez Center

The facility is the central component of the city's successful convention industry. The Center, named for the late US congressman Henry Barbosa González, hosts more than 300 events each year with over 750,000 convention delegates from around the world.

The original convention center was built as part of HemisFair '68 by a joint venture of two general contractors Darragh & Lyda Inc. of San Antonio, Texas and H. A. Lott Inc. of Houston, Texas, but has been significantly altered and expanded since then. Today, it is a 1,300,000 square feet (120,000 m²) state-of-the-art facility with 203,000 sq ft (18,900 m²) of meeting space, 3 ballrooms, 4 contiguous exhibit halls over 440,000 sq ft (41,000 m²) and the adjacent 2,500-seat Lila Cockrell Theatre, a performing arts venue, which is part of the original construction.

A new 1,003-room convention center hotel and condominium tower, the Grand Hyatt San Antonio, designed by the renowned architecture firm Arquitectonica, opened in 2009. The Grand Hyatt provides a direct connection with the rest of the Convention Center.

The City-owned facility is maintained by San Antonio's Convention and Visitors Bureau and by Downtown Operations. The Police Department provides security for the center.

External links

• Official website