Blair County Convention Center hosts conventions, trade shows, conferences, banquets and weddings, with room for up to 2,000 people in theater style in its exhibit hall and 1,000 for a served meal in its full ballroom. The two-story building covers 55,000 square feet at One Convention Center Drive in Altoona, Pennsylvania, along Interstate 99 between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg.
Seminars and company events
The center is built for multi-session events. A general session can fill the 15,249 square foot ballroom, set for 1,500 in theater style or 500 in classroom style, while breakouts run in 11 smaller rooms. Room 201 is an executive meeting room for 10, the DBB Meeting Room takes 16 in classroom or U-shape, and the 200-level rooms combine into suites for 50 to 120. For trade shows, the lower-level exhibit hall offers 24,088 square feet with receptions for up to 800. Two lobbies handle registration and networking, and planners can submit a request for proposal online.
Weddings and receptions
The center lists weddings among its services. A reception can use one section of the ballroom or the whole floor, and the Sunrise Patio adds an 11,480 square foot outdoor space for up to 360 at a served dinner. Both patios look out over the surrounding mountains.
Rooms and capacities
The ballroom divides into four sections. Ballroom 3 alone seats 600 in theater style and 300 for a served meal, Ballroom 4 takes 450 and 200, and Ballrooms 1 and 2 hold 150 each in theater style. Combined, Ballrooms 1 to 3 or 3 to 4 seat 1,050. The exhibit hall splits into A to E, at 17,526 square feet with theater seating for 2,000, and F, G and H, at 6,562 square feet for 700. Rooms 101 and 102 on the lower level combine for 140. Every room has published figures for theater, classroom, crescent rounds, reception, served and buffet layouts.
Accommodation
A Country Inn and Suites by Radisson is attached to the building, so delegates can walk from their room to the session. The center counts more than 1,300 hotel rooms in the surrounding area for larger conventions.
Catering
Food is prepared in the on-site kitchen by Chef Tom and his team. Menus cover buffets, plated service and a la carte options, from a coffee break to a banquet for 1,000.
History and setting
The building stands in central Pennsylvania, with two outdoor patios that face the mountains around Altoona. Its two levels separate the ballroom and meeting rooms from the exhibit hall, which helps when a trade show and a conference run side by side.
Getting there
The center sits on I-99, with more than 700 parking spaces on site. Altoona has an Amtrak station on the Pennsylvanian line between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, and Altoona-Blair County Airport serves the area, with larger airports in Pittsburgh and Harrisburg.
