Connecticut

Mohegan Sun Expo Center to Open Summer 2018

Mohegan Sun’s assistant GM, Jeff Hamilton, speaking at the Mohegan Sun Expo Center announcement

 

Uncasville, CT – Leaders of the Mohegan Tribe and Mohegan Sun gathered recently at the flagship property in Connecticut to announce the official plans for The Mohegan Sun Expo Center. Construction is underway, with a target opening date of summer 2018. The expansion will span over 240,000gsf and will be located by the Winter Parking garage and in close proximity to Mohegan Sun’s newest hotel, Earth Tower. The New York-based architect firm Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF) and the construction team out of North Stonington, A/Z Corp, are partners on this project.

A peek into the construction underway at Mohegan Sun

Key features of the new Expo Center will include a 21,412-nsf ballroom, divisible into two sections and featuring over 3,000nsf of prefunction space. The Exposition Center itself will be 131,000nsf; it will have free parking, six loading docks from an open parking field, and additional drive-in access from two grade-level drive-in doors.

It will have 18 meeting rooms in total, ranging from 360nsf to 675nsf, a 1,263nsf boardroom with 230nsf of prefunction space and its own outdoor terrace, 3,600nsf of outdoor space, which includes a large wraparound terrace for the full center, and a 5,361nsf kitchen. Additional features include a mobile box office, up-to-the-minute technology, digital displays inside and outside the center, free Wi-Fi, and contiguous exhibit space.

On the design front, the new Expo Center will be a column-free structure with clerestory windows, offering flexible programming within a naturally lit space. The main circulation spine that connects the exposition hall to the prefunction area also provides access to the overall facility, including the ballroom and adjustable meeting rooms. Along this path, floor-to-ceiling windows and doors lead visitors onto an outdoor patio that adds gathering space in warm weather and buffers the building from Cove Road that loops around the entire site.

Greenery extends east to the recently completed Earth Tower, which shares the same grand entry as the Sky Tower. Interior finishes will recall the tribe’s cultural history, with custom carpeting and light fixtures that reflect Native American motifs, the nearby Thames River, and the color palettes of the Earth and Sky towers.

Additional below-grade entertainment tenant space will composed of 20,000sf of the total expanse, further diversifying the center’s mixed-use program.

Once completed in the summer of 2018, ideally in time for next year’s Barret-Jackson Car Collector’s Auction, Mohegan Sun will be home to the largest meetings and convention spaces between Boston and New York City.

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The Exposition and Convention Center is expected to attract more corporate and association trade shows, in addition to exhibitions such as Barrett-Jackson and the National Association of Postal Supervisors. It gives Mohegan Sun an opportunity to also expand current consumer geared shows like Terrificon and bring about tech industry shows, golf shows, musical extravaganzas, home-shows, motor sports and hunting & fishing shows.  One of the first partnerships announced by Assistant General Manager, Jeff Hamilton, is with United Natural Foods Inc (UNFI), as he alluded to a full-scale food show already in early planning stages for next year.

Mohegan Tribal Chairman, Kevin Brown touched on more exciting partnerships to come and further positive impacts that the Expo Center will soon have for southeastern Connecticut. “This new conference center will help solidify Mohegan Sun as not just the premier conventions destination, but the premier resort in the Northeast region. It will enable us to host some of the largest trade shows in the nation and take back some of the lost conventions that seek bigger venues in Boston and New York,” the Chairman stated.

 

Architect/Consultants below:

 

Architectural Firm – Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates

General Contractor – A/Z Corporation 

Structural Engineer – DeSimone Consulting Engineers

Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing & Fire Protection – WSP Parsons-Brinckerhoff

Civil – Close Jensen & Miller

Landscaping – Towers Golde LLC (New Haven, CT)