The NRG Center (former name Reliant Center) is a convention center in Houston, Texas, United States. It is part of the NRG Park complex that was constructed around the NRG Astrodome and

NRG Stadium NRG Stadium, formerly Reliant Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium in Houston, Texas, United States. Construction was completed in 2002, at a cost of $352 million and has a seating capacity of 72,220. It was the first NFL facility to have a retrac ...

. The NRG Center hosts various events year-round, including portions of the

Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, also called RodeoHouston or abbreviated HLSR, is the largest Livestock show, livestock exhibition and rodeo in the world. It includes one of the richest regular-season professional rodeo events. It has been ...

, who maintains its offices on the second floor of the building. The grand opening of the facility was on April 12, 2002, with the Houston Auto Show. Hermes Reed Architects was the architect for the facility. On March 12, 2014, the Reliant Center was renamed to the NRG Center.

The facility

The convention floor runs over in length, while total building size is long and wide, with a total area of . The facility features over of contiguous single-level exhibition space, which is divisible into 11 separate halls, ranging in size from . The 61 meeting rooms are configurable into over 100 variations, and the two largest meeting rooms are . Each meeting room has its own dedicated sound, lighting and networking capabilities. There are also 118 loading bays, a marshalling area with over for shuttle transportation, and over of registration space. The facility the technological infrastructure capable of providing high-speed internet access, pre-wired

fiber optic An optical fiber, or optical fibre in Commonwealth English, is a flexible, transparency and translucency, transparent fiber made by Drawing (manufacturing), drawing glass (silica) or plastic to a diameter slightly thicker than that of a Hair ...

cabling backbone, on-site production facilities, 120 television monitors, as well as web-casting abilities.

Uses

Along with the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, NRG Center hosts some of the largest conventions and trade shows in Houston. Some examples of these events are the Offshore Technology Conference, The Reliant Park World Series of Dog Shows, Nutcracker Market, Houston Auto Show, International Gem & Jewelry Show, The Vans Warped Tour, Houston Gun Collector's and Antique Show, and the Houston Boat, Sport, and Travel Show, to name a few. In September 2005, the center hosted several thousand refugees from Hurricane Katrina when the Astrodome was declared full. Reliant Center hosted

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's ''

WrestleMania Axxess WrestleMania Axxess is a professional wrestling fan convention held by WWE during the week of WrestleMania. The event typically runs for four days—from Thursday to WrestleMania Sunday—and features WWE talent and alumni autograph signings, inte ...

'' event from April 2 to April 5, in 2009, where fans met their favorite wrestlers in the buildup to ''

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'' at the

on April 5. On 30 August 2017, the NRG Center again became a relief shelter in the aftermath of

Hurricane Harvey Hurricane Harvey was a devastating Category 4 hurricane that made landfall on Texas and Louisiana in August 2017, causing catastrophic flooding and more than 100 deaths. It is tied with 2005's Hurricane Katrina as the costliest ...

, after the

George R. Brown Convention Center The George R. Brown Convention Center (GRB), opened on September 26, 1987, is located on the east side of Downtown Houston, Texas, United States. The center was named for internationally recognized entrepreneur, engineer, civic leader, philan ...

went over capacity.

OTC

From 2003, the

Offshore Technology Conference Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) is a series of conferences and exhibitions, focused on the exchanging technical knowledge relevant to the development of offshore energy resources, primarily oil and natural gas. It was founded in 1969. There a ...

is held at the NRG Center. The OTC is a large event in the technology of offshore exploration and production of energy resources and associated environmental protection, with attendance in tens of thousands attendees.

References

{{coord, 29.68768, -95.406325, display=t, type:landmark Event venues established in 2002 Buildings and structures in Houston Tourist attractions in Houston 2002 establishments in Texas