New Pueblo Convention Center addition coming into shape

Last November, the city of Pueblo broke ground on the new addition of a convention center. Monday, that project is coming into the final stages of construction.

“Ground wasn’t broke until November of last year and right now we are almost done,” said Pueblo City Councilman Mark Aliff. “Now we have the space. We can open up that eighteen thousand square feet of floor along with the regular convention center, and it just opens things up for a lot bigger conventions.”

City officials and crews on the site say the construction part of the project is expected to end February 1st, however, it won’t be operational until March.

The site also includes state of the art training facilities for a number of different sports. The training area is just behind the large glass wall and visible from The Riverwalk.

“This is going to be a training facility for all different sports,” said Louie Carleo, a Pueblo Urban Renewal Chairman. “But it will have an emphasis on bull riding.”

The the state is funding the project to the tune of about 35 million dollars.
The hope is that this will soon attract trade shows and athletes to Pueblo, but ultimately they want people to move to Pueblo.

“Every time you offer one more amenity to a community it brings additional people here,” said Carleo. “That’s what we are trying to do.”

On Tuesday, Pueblo Urban Renewal will host a press event as they begin to construct the tower set to go in front of the convention center and celebrate the completion of 70% of the work.