About A Convention Center
Northwest Indiana is currently restricted on the size of local, state and national conventions and meetings that can use our current meeting space. The Radisson Hotel was the primary location for associations and groups to hold conventions and conferences. The Radisson Hotel in Merrillville closed at the end of 2016 and when it reopens will only offer 20,000 square feet of meeting space - much too small for a number of conferences that have been holding meetings in the South Shore for years. A larger meeting space (i.e. convention center) will offer the opportunity to host meetings that are too large for the Radisson Hotel but too small for major cities like Chicago, New York and Las Vegas. Throughout the years, a number of conventions have outgrown northwest Indiana and have moved their conventions to places like Fort Wayne and Indianapolis.