BILLINGS - A Magic City makeover is nearly complete with the improvements to the Billings Hotel & Convention Center, which will be unveiled on Dec. 11 at a Billings Chamber of Commerce event.
The nearly $5 million project features an additional 15,000 square feet of space and several technological upgrades.
The new building is close to the entrance for the older part of the convention center.
The first big event will be The Glitter and Grit Classic gymnastics meet on Jan. 18.
"We're going fit great in here,” said Darcey Frewin, owner of Magic City Gymnastics, which will host the competition.
Frewin and her club have not hosted meets in the past because it has never worked out with scheduling at other venues in Billings.
The new facility has a ceiling that ranges in height from 17 feet to 25 feet.
“Mostly the uneven bars,” Frewin said about the need for high ceilings. “We need at least an 18-foot clearance, so the girls don't hit their toes on the ceiling."
“Fourteen-foot garage doors really give, for gymnastics or anything, the capability of bringing their equipment easily,” said Jase Muri, general manager of the Billings Hotel & Convention Center.
Muri says he has already booked dance competitions and fundraisers for 2025.
“It brings more revenue down to the South sSde here, generates some tax dollars,” Muri said.
The city council approved the South Billings Urban Renewal Association (SBURA) recommendation to contribute about $460,000 in tax increment finance money to the $4.9 million addition.
“We felt that that was one of the better things we could do to help stimulate business development in that south side,” said Dick Zier, a SBURA consultant.
The Billings Chamber of Commerce says about 2.6 million visitors spend close to $621 million in bills each year and expects that to increase with new convention center able to handle events for up to 1,000 people.
“Probably the biggest convention center in a four-state area,” Zier said. “And it will be able to attract a lot of the bigger conventions that they haven't been able to have in billings. They went someplace else.”
The gymnasts already can't wait to compete in their hometown.
“It means everything when the kid comes to a meeting and, they have a feeling that they're excited,” said Ryan Adams, Magic City Gymnastics coach. “Hopefully for the future, we can have a meet every year and it's going to draw tons of families.”
