Albuquerque New Mexico Convention Center

Atrium of the Albuquerque Convention Center

Albuquerque Convention Center is a multipurpose convention and

performing arts center Performing arts center/centre (see spelling differences), often abbreviated as PAC, is usually a complex housing performance spaces for various performing arts, including dance, music, and theatre. In some cases it refers to a single multi-use s ...

Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque ( ; ), also known as ABQ, Burque, the Duke City, and in the past 'the Q', is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Bernalillo County, New Mexico, Bernal ...

. It is

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

's largest convention center. The convention center hosts the Albuquerque

Comic-Con A comic book convention or comic con is a fan convention emphasizing comic books and comic book culture, in which comic book Fan (person), fans gather to meet creators, experts, and each other. Commonly, comic conventions are multi-day events h ...

and a

lowrider A lowrider or low rider is a customized car with a lowered body that emerged among Mexican American youth in the 1940s. ''Lowrider'' also refers to the driver of the car and their participation in lowrider car clubs, which remain a part of Chi ...

exhibition sponsored by

Lowrider A lowrider or low rider is a customized car with a lowered body that emerged among Mexican American youth in the 1940s. ''Lowrider'' also refers to the driver of the car and their participation in lowrider car clubs, which remain a part of Chi ...

called the Albuquerque Super Show, as well as music

concerts A concert, often known informally as a gig or show, is a live performance of music in front of an audience. The performance may be carried by a single musician, in which case it is sometimes called a recital, or by a musical ensemble such as an ...

, Broadway, and other stage shows. The building was designed by architects Flatow, Moore Bryan & Fairburn in 1972.

Description

Exhibit halls

The largest exhibit hall in the complex is the Fran Hill Exhibit Hall with 106,200 square feet of exhibit space and a capacity of up to 9,048. With a ceiling height of 30 feet to low steel and 47 feet to the roof, Hill Exhibit Hall has also doubled as an multipurpose sports

arena An arena is a large enclosed venue, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, Music, musical performances or Sport, sporting events. It comprises a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for specta ...

, and is the home of the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; ) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1889 by the New Mexico Territorial Legislature, it is the state's second oldest university, a flagship university in th ...

Lobos Lobos is the headquarters city of the Lobos Partido in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It was founded on 2 June 1802 by José Salgado. Background Located from Buenos Aires, Lobos is a fertile agricultural area known mainly because of the d ...

indoor

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

and Duke City Derby

roller derby Roller derby is a roller skating contact sport played on an oval track by two teams of five skaters. It is played by approximately 1,250 amateur leaguesA Roller Derby league is synonymous with an individual club or team in other team sports, as ...

teams. It is also used for

, trade shows,

graduation A graduation is the awarding of a diploma by an educational institution. It may also refer to the ceremony that is associated with it, which can also be called Commencement speech, commencement, Congregation (university), congregation, Convocat ...

ceremonies and other special events. Two other separate convention halls, the Northwest and Mel C. Aragon Southwest Exhibit Halls, are also located at the convention center and have 30,173 square feet of space each.

Indoor Track

The track inside the Convention Center, installed in 2005, is a 200-meter, 60-degree-banked track with 60-meter straightaways running the entire length of the hall, as well as running runways, pits, facilities for

shot put The shot put is a track-and-field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical Ball (sports), ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. For men, the sport has been a part of the Olympic Games, modern Olympics since their 1896 Summer Olym ...

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a #bar, bar. Pole jumping was already practiced by the ...

and

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

events. Albuquerque Convention Center has hosted both the

USA Indoor Track and Field Championships The USA Indoor Track and Field Championships is an annual indoor track and field competition organized by USA Track & Field, which serves as the American national championships for the sport. In years which feature a World Indoor Championships i ...

and the NCAA Men's Division I Indoor Track and Field Championship numerous times, most recently in 2023.

Kiva Auditorium

The 2,350-seat Kiva Auditorium is used for stage shows and other special events.

Meeting rooms

The convention center contains 27 meeting rooms, all named after pueblos, with total square footage of 46,395 square feet of space. Nine of the meeting rooms can be combined into two ballrooms with capacities of 1155 and 794, respectively, while six larger meeting rooms can also be created. The main ballroom at the Convention Center has 31,164 square feet of space and capacity for 2,400 and can be divided into three smaller rooms

Other amenities

The Albuquerque Convention Center also includes three permanent concession stands and many thematic portable food carts, 14 restrooms, five show offices, and press and conference facilities.

2013-2014 renovation

The Convention Center underwent a $25 million "complete renovation" in 2013-2014. Work included extensive remodeling of the ballrooms, kitchen, dock area, lighting, and exterior. The building received new amenities such as an executive conference room, service area, balcony, and a new floor-to-ceiling glass facade.

Filming location

It was featured in ''

Breaking Bad ''Breaking Bad'' is an American crime drama television series created and produced by Vince Gilligan for AMC (TV channel), AMC. Set and filmed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the series follows Walter White (Breaking Bad), Walter White (Bryan Cran ...

'' Season 5 Episode 12.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Convention centers in New Mexico Athletics (track and field) venues in New Mexico Indoor arenas in New Mexico Indoor track and field venues in the United States College indoor track and field venues in the United States Concert halls in New Mexico New Mexico Lobos track and field Sports venues in Albuquerque, New Mexico Educational institutions in the United States with year of establishment missing New Mexico Lobos sports venues