The convention and meeting industry in Utah County is much healthier with the opening of the Utah Valley Conference Center at the Provo Park Hotel.
The new conference center has 28,000 square feet of meeting space that includes 10 new rooms, a tiered theater room, an executive boardroom and an 8,000-square-foot ballroom.The expansion project at the Provo Park Hotel also added 101 corporate suites, an indoor swimming pool, a fitness center, arcade and guest laundry room. The downtown Provo hotel now has 333 rooms.
As part of the conference center and the hotel expansion, a new entrance to the facility was built on Center Street. Now, patrons can enter the conference center from Center Street or 100 North.
Provo Park Hotel is owned jointly by Kahler Realty Corp., a national hotel chain, and EsNet Development, a Utah County-based firm. Kahler also owns the Residence Inn in Provo, the Salt Lake Downtown Hilton, Ogden Park Hotel, University Park Hotel and Olympia Park Hotel in Park City.
"Kahler is particularly optimistic about our property in Provo," said Tom O'Leary, president of Kahler Realty. "We have done very well here, and we hope the new conference center will help attract additional visitors to the area."
Hotel officials believe the new facilities will keep many local companies from holding business meetings and conventions in Salt Lake City. Utah County recently established a convention bureau to help solicit conferences and business meetings to the valley. Kahler officials believe that with the additional rooms and conference facilities, more than half of the hotel's business will be related to meetings and conventions.