Metroplex Prepares to Reopen as Event, Storage Center
GIRARD, Ohio – The former Holiday Inn MetroPlex in Liberty Township is beginning a new chapter as the Metroplex Expo Center.
The property, which already has events scheduled and is taking bookings for the rest of 2016 as well as into 2017, will hold a ribbon–cutting ceremony Oct. 5.
Universal Development, a developer of residential real estate in northeastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania, purchased the former hotel and event property in March 2015 for $850,000.
The MetroPlex opened in 1987 under the Holiday Inn banner. It quickly became the go-to space for meetings and small conventions and featured a popular lounge, Choices, and a comedy club. The hotel, which no longer was affiliated with Holiday Inn, closed in March 2014 following a pair of minor fires.
The property, lnear the Belmont avenue exit of Interstate 680, features a newly renovated ballroom, meeting rooms and courtyard patio, according to the news release announcing the reopening.
The developer also is converting the attached hotel complex into a self-storage center. The center will feature 450 units of varying sizes that will be climate controlled with interior access, similar to the company’s other climate controlled property at Interstate 80 and state Route 46 in Austintown.
“In an independent marketing study, we saw that this area was underserved with the closing of the Eastwood Expo Center and in need of additional climate-controlled storage. We felt that the former Metroplex was the perfect solution,” said Melissa Hegwood, vice president of marketing for Universal Development.
Discussions are under way with national and local booking agents and future plans include food service options for service large and small events.
As well as being climate controlled with both heat and air conditioning, the self-storage center will feature a high-tech sprinkler system and 24-hour security and camera monitors viewing exterior doors and hallways, the company said. A device on each door will let monitors know when a unit is locked and unlocked. An additional exterior freight elevator that can service the four floors is being built.
For booking/reservation information for the Metroplex Expo Center, call 330 759 1674 or 888 759 1674. A website, metroplexexpo.com, was not yet active as of this morning.
Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
