The Hawai‘i Convention Center is a

convention and exhibition center Convention may refer to: * Convention (norm), a custom or tradition, a standard of presentation or conduct ** Treaty, an agreement in international law * Convention (meeting), meeting of a (usually large) group of individuals and/or companies in a ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

, located in

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

on the island of

Oahu Oahu () ( Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over two-thirds of the population of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The island of O� ...

. The Hawaii Convention Center is the largest exhibition center of its type in the state. It is located directly to the west of the

Waikiki Waikiki (; haw, Waikīkī; ; also known as Waikiki Beach) is a neighborhood of Honolulu on the south shore of the island of Oahu in the U.S. state of Hawaii. Waikiki is most famous for Waikiki Beach, which is one of six beaches in the district ...

district of Honolulu.

Design and construction

Construction of the building cost $200 million. The building offers of ballroom and exhibition floor space. It was completed in 1997 and opened in 1998. The Hawaii Convention Center is owned by the Hawaii Tourism Authority and managed by

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

based company

AEG Live Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft AG (AEG; ) was a German producer of electrical equipment founded in Berlin as the ''Deutsche Edison-Gesellschaft für angewandte Elektricität'' in 1883 by Emil Rathenau. During the Second World War, AEG ...

. The Hawaiʻi Convention Center was the largest "design-build" project undertaken by the State of Hawaiʻi. The bid process for the design began in 1994 with

LMN Architects LMN is an American architecture firm based in Seattle, Washington. The company was founded in 1979, and provides planning and design services to create convention centers, cultural arts venues, higher education facilities, commercial and mixed ...

being chosen to design the building. Wimberly Allison Tong & Goo was chosen to design the interior, incorporating historical Hawaiian quilt designs and nature based motifs throughout.

Events

Major events that take place at the Hawaii Convention Center include the annual First Hawaiian International Auto Show, the

Miss Hawaii The Miss Hawaii competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the State of Hawaii in the Miss America pageant, and the name of the title held by that winner. Hawaii first competed at Miss America in 1948 and has twice won the M ...

competition, the Honolulu Festival,

Kawaii Kon Kawaii Kon is an anime convention geared towards Japanese animation and comics held in the Honolulu area. Programming Kawaii Kon currently has AMV and anime screenings; industry, fan, and guest panels; Hall Cosplay contests, Masquerade/Cospl ...

and numerous other public and private events. On November 12–20, 2011, the Hawaii Convention Center hosted the culminating meetings of APEC United States 2011. An estimated 10,000 people arrived in

for the meetings. The National Transportation Safety Board public hearing on the

Korean Air Flight 801 Korean Air Flight 801 (KE801, KAL801) was a scheduled international passenger flight operated by Korean Air. The flight crashed on August 6, 1997, on approach to Antonio B. Won Pat International Airport, in the United States territory of Guam, k ...

crash in

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

was held at the Hawaii Convention Center on March 24–26, 1998, in Ballrooms A, B, and C.

Sporting events

The convention center offers 28 volleyball and badminton courts, 18 basketball courts and 11

futsal Futsal is a football-based game played on a hard court smaller than a football pitch, and mainly indoors. It has similarities to five-a-side football and indoor football. Futsal is played between two teams of five players each, one of whom is ...

(indoor soccer) courts for sports competitions.

Awards

The center has won the ''Prime Site Award'' for twelve-year consecutive years. In 2010, it won an ''Inner Circle Award'' in the category of "Top Convention Centers". The Center won a "Best in Business Travel" award in the category of "Best Conference or Convention Center/City"Business Traveler
magazine; 2009, 2010, 2011 The International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE) voted the Hawai‘i Convention Center as the most beautiful convention center in the world.

In popular culture

In the television show ''

Lost Lost may refer to getting lost, or to: Geography *Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland * Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US History *Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...

'', the convention center was used to portray Sydney Airport in multiple instances. It was also featured in an episode of the new

Hawaii Five-0 Hawaii Five-O or Hawaii Five-0 may refer to: * Hawaii Five-0 (2010 TV series), ''Hawaii Five-0'' (2010 TV series), an American action police procedural television series * Hawaii Five-O (1968 TV series), ''Hawaii Five-O'' (1968 TV series), an Ame ...

as hosting a fictional convention similar to

San Diego Comic-Con San Diego Comic-Con International is a comic book convention and nonprofit multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California since 1970. The name, as given on its website, is Comic-Con International: San Diego; but it is ...

References

{{Honolulu Hawaiian architecture Convention centers in Hawaii Badminton venues Basketball venues in Hawaii Indoor soccer venues in the United States Volleyball venues in Hawaii Buildings and structures in Honolulu Tourist attractions in Honolulu 1998 establishments in Hawaii Buildings and structures completed in 1998