"Our goal is to grow attendance and become even more of a destination venue," said Robert J. Peterson, I-X Center president.
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View full sizeCleveland Iron Chef Michael Symon explains how to combine spices and flavors for a pork dish with mashed pumpkin in front of a packed house at the Fabulous Food Show at the I-X Center last November. The projects will begin this year, when the I-X Center spends nearly $3 million to add a third lane to the main access road, expand and add lights to the parking lots, and upgrade the food courts and restrooms in the massive 2.2-million-square-foot facility.
"Our goal is to grow attendance and become even more of a destination venue by presenting a wide array of spectacular events that appeal to diverse audiences from Northeast Ohio and throughout the Midwest," said Robert J. Peterson, I-X Center president, in a statement.
The I-X Center hosts numerous large-scale events throughout the year, from the Great Big Home & Garden Expo in February to the Fabulous Food Show coming back for the sixth time Nov. 11 to 13. The food show will also return to Cleveland for a spring version of its show in April 2012.
"Visitors come to the I-X Center from New York, Florida and points in between to see favorite chefs such as Giada De Laurentiis, Paula Deen, Bobby Flay, Guy Fieri, Alton Brown and Cleveland's own Michael Symon," Peterson said.
Car lovers are drawn to the Greater Cleveland Auto Show - the fifth largest in the country - while families and teen-agers swarm to the I-X Indoor Amusement Park.
The next major event for the venue is the Piston Power Show, featuring hundreds of piston-powered vehicles, a World War II B-17 bomber and a P-51 Mustang, from Sept. 30 to Oct. 3.
