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Biz Expo Finds New Home
With Coliseum's demise, new city field house fills the breech
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Business New Haven
8/5/2002
By: Michael C. Bingham
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Relocating the Southern Connecticut Business Expo from the moribund Veterans Memorial Coliseum this year serves two aims: It permits the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce to continue to build on the success of the 2000 and 2001 events in a new venue; and it allows the city of New Haven to show off its brand, spanking new Citywide Field House to the business community.
After Mayor John DeStefano Jr. announced in June that the Coliseum, a chronic money-loser, would come down on or about September 1, the Coliseum's events schedule was thrown into chaos. These included sports bookings such as the 2004 NCAA ice-hockey championships (announced only in May of this year), and the chamber's business expo, which over the past two years had been successfully revived at the Coliseum.
Following the announcement that the Coliseum would be razed, Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce President Anthony Rescigno said that DeStefano approached him with an alternate site: the city's new field house on Sherman Parkway next to Hillhouse High School, a cavernous new facility designed to host indoor sporting events such as track and basketball when it opens for the coming academic year.
Both Rescigno and Event Management principal Marc P. Sherer, whose company produced the previous two expos, admitted to being “a little skeptical.” However, Rescigno says, “When I first walked through the doors here, I was absolutely blown away” by the surroundings.
The new facility indeed houses more floor space for exhibitors; Sherer says this year's event will accommodate some 270 exhibitor booths, up from 198 last year at the Coliseum. As a still-unknown quantity to most New Haven-area business people, Sherer says, “We'll have to sell [the field house] as an upgrade - and I believe it is.”
However, the construction schedule and conflicts with Hillhouse users will necessitate a postponement of the expo from its original October 2 date to November 5 - Election Day.
As it was at the Coliseum, parking for exhibitors and attendees at the event will doubtless raise concerns, as surface lots adjacent to the new building house only some 300 vehicles. However, Sherer says that the city's Department of Parks, Recreation & Trees has agreed to permit event parking at Degale Park, across Sherman Parkway from the field house.
Last year's business expo attracted some 200 exhibiting companies and about 6,000 attendees, including 300 for the kickoff breakfast preceding the event.
All involved hope those numbers can be bettered in 2002.
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