As we enter our 50th year of publishing, The Building Tradesman takes a look back at historic construction projects that have helped shaped Michigan. This begins a series that will last throughout 2001.

Detroit's new and gleaming Cobo Hall and adjacent Cobo Arena gave the city a huge, sorely needed facility for attracting conventions, sporting events and concerts.

The construction process yielded a 400,000-square-foot convention center, which opened Aug. 15, 1960, and a 12,191-seat arena, which opened June 16, 1961. It all cost $54 million, and combined they were the largest such facility in the world.

"Cobo Hall and Cobo Arena are capable of housing any convention or exhibition of current size," said press materials of the day.

But times change. In 1989 the exhibition hall was expanded to include 700,000 square feet of exhibit space, which kept the facility as the nation's third-largest.

Since then, however, Cobo Center has dropped to No. 12, and when it comes to attracting the big players in the convention business, size matters. Sites like Chicago's McCormack Place (2.2 million square feet) and Orlando's County Center (1.1 million square feet) have surpassed Cobo, spurring talk of expanding the riverfront property once again.

Named for Detroit Mayor Albert Cobo (1950-57), the facility has 80 meeting rooms, two large banquet rooms, and rooftop and indoor parking for more than 2,200 vehicles. Cobo Hall was the destination for rock concerts in Detroit and was the home of the Detroit Pistons until 1978.

Today, the annual North American International Auto Show and the Society of Automotive Engineers Show are two of the largest users of floor space at Cobo - and they could use more room. The multitude of double-deck displays at the last few auto shows is evidence of this. And if the city has any hope of attracting additional users of the hall, more room is needed. "There is no question that we need to expand," said Louis Pavledes, director of Cobo.

Bringing the facility up to 1 million square feet would cost an estimated $350 million in construction alone, but first the room has to be found. The building is surrounded by water, streets or other buildings, none of which can be built upon or over without significant additional cost and planning.

It remains to be seen whether that expansion work will ever take place,but the work that was done 40 years ago stands as a testament to the skill of building trades.

COBO ARENA and Cobo Hall on Detroit's riverfront - shown here brand new in 1961.