---
title: "Destination: Detroit Conventions"
id: "14174"
type: "post"
slug: "destination-detroit-conventions"
published_at: "2012-11-02T00:50:27+00:00"
modified_at: "2026-03-15T19:04:47+00:00"
url: "https://associationsnow.com/2012/11/02/destination-detroit-conventions/"
markdown_url: "https://associationsnow.com/2012/11/02/destination-detroit-conventions.md"
excerpt: "The Great Lakes State’s largest city mixes the old with the new."
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  - "Meetings / Events"
taxonomy_post_tag:
  - "AssociationsNow"
  - "conventions"
  - "Detroit"
  - "event venues"
  - "Meetings"
taxonomy_content_format:
  - "Article"
taxonomy_role:
  - "Association CEO / Executive Director"
  - "C-Level"
  - "Executive Team"
  - "For-Profit CEO / President / Owner / Partner"
taxonomy_persona:
  - "Association Professionals"
---

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 » Destination: Detroit Conventions

A Chrysler commercial that debuted in 2011 featuring rapper and Detroit native Eminem got viewers to rethink “The D.” Here’s what the Motor City has going on now:

**$300 million Cobo Center renovation.** The overhaul, scheduled for completion by December 2014, will update the look of the convention center and reconfigure meeting space. Significant changes include rebuilding center as a 40,000-square-foot ballroom, installing a three-story atrium to link the exhibit hall with meeting space that overlooks the Detroit River, and adding a digital billboard to the building’s east side. Exterior walls will be replaced with glass to showcase the center’s riverside location.

**Event spaces with history.** The Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, located a mile from downtown, has eight meeting rooms, a 317-seat state-of-the-art theater, and a rotunda that holds 500. The entire museum can be rented out to accommodate up to 2,500 guests. Other venues with a historical element include Second Baptist Church, which served as a stop on the Underground Railroad, and the Detroit Institute of Arts.

**Neighborhood resurgence.** After Tigers Stadium closed in 1999, many feared the worst for Corktown, Detroit’s oldest neighborhood. But now the area offers a mix of restaurants, bars, and music venues. Sports fans shouldn’t miss Nemo’s, a bar dedicated to Detroit’s sports history, and those looking for live music should check out popular dive bar Lager House. Also on the not-to-miss list: Slows Bar B Q.

(Photo courtesy of MeetDetroit.com)

[Samantha Whitehorne](https://associationsnow.com/author/samantha-whitehorne/)

Samantha Whitehorne is a former editorial director of Associations Now in Washington, DC.

[More articles by this author](https://associationsnow.com/author/samantha-whitehorne/)

Tags: [#conventions](https://associationsnow.com/tag/conventions/)
 [#Detroit](https://associationsnow.com/tag/detroit/)
 [#event venues](https://associationsnow.com/tag/event-venues/)
 [#Meetings](https://associationsnow.com/tag/meetings/)

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