Boise Centre ballroom almost done; expansion to continue into summer

The ballroom in Boise Centre East, the first phase of expansion of Boise Centre, should be done by the end of this week, said Pat Rice, executive director of the Greater Boise Auditorium District, which owns and operates the convention venue on Downtown Boise’s Grove Plaza.

An industrial-scale kitchen in Boise Centre East and escalators to the ballroom should be done by Oct. 14, Rice said. The completion of a concourse connecting the original Boise Centre building on the Grove’s southwest side, is scheduled for late winter or early spring.

The auditorium district also plans to renovate the existing building’s Summit Room, a theater-style space, turning it into 4,500 square feet of meeting rooms on the first floor, with offices and a patio on the second floor. Demolition for that project, the expansion’s third phase, should start in early December and be done next summer.

Meanwhile, an overhaul of the Grove Plaza itself is underway. Rice said all but the south spoke of the Grove should be done by early November. The south spoke, the completion of which has to wait until the Boise Centre concourse is done, should be done in the spring.

This story was originally published September 19, 2016 at 5:37 AM with the headline "Boise Centre ballroom almost done; expansion to continue into summer."