There are very few buildings that form a direct link between Greenville’s textile past and its modern renaissance, and perhaps none is more significant than the Greenville Convention Center.
Since its construction in 1964 as the new Textile Hall and replacing its aging namesake downtown, the sprawling complex off North Pleasantburg Drive has evolved to meet the changing needs of the community.
Like the city it supports, the GCC’s emergence as a destination has had its ups and downs, but it has settled into the role as Greenville’s front porch where visitors are welcomed and often get their first taste of what the city is all about.
“What the convention center does is allow us to leverage those leisure amenities with the great culinary experiences that we have and the outdoor recreation … things that people want out of a business meeting location.” — Heath Dillard, VisitGreenvilleSC president/CEO
The asset
Having a large, adaptable facility like the convention center is a tremendous community asset, according to Heath Dillard, president of VisitGreenvilleSC.
He said Greenville has worked very hard during the past 20 years to earn a coveted spot on a number of Top 10 lists for most desirable destinations.
The city’s vibrant culinary scene, abundance of outdoor amenities such as Falls Park, Unity Park and the Prisma Health Swamp Rabbit Trail make the community a popular destination for both business and leisure travelers.
Dillard said the GCC allows Greenville to leverage those draws into a growing number of business and trade shows because, increasingly, attendees to those events expect and demand destination cities to deliver those kinds of experiences and amenities.
“It’s really a remarkable asset for this community because it allows us to convene people from lots of different sectors and lots of different kinds of organizations,” Dillard said. “And a lot of those attendees may be coming here for the very first time.”
Understanding what it means to fulfill that “front porch” role is among the reasons Oak View Group’s management arm, OVG360, was brought in to run the center in 2023.
From the outset, General Manager Matt Hollander said his team is focused on delivering a superlative experience to everyone coming to the facility.
Whether it’s first-time visitors coming for trade and business events or more local visitors gathering to support a nonprofit or civic organization, Hollander said his team strives to make an excellent impression.
The impact
For groups like United Way of Greenville County, the GCC offers the space and support to advance its core mission of improving the lives of community members.
“Our work at United Way of Greenville County has always been centered around bringing people together — whether that’s convening around community challenges, rallying support from our generous investors or mobilizing volunteers,” said Meghan Barp, United Way of Greenville County president and CEO. “Over the years, the Greenville Convention Center has been a terrific partner in this work, helping us to unite the community on a large scale and maximize our impact in Greenville County.”
Having the convention center as an option has also played an important role in Clemson University’s ability to bring thousands of people from across the country to its Men of Color National Summit for the past seven years.
Related: Textile roots run deep for convention center
With no suitably large single space on campus capable of hosting the summit, having the convention center and its team to call upon has helped make the event a success, according to Sara Hanks, Clemson’s director of strategic initiatives.
“The logistics that go into planning an event like the summit are complex and ever-changing, so working with a team that has many years’ experience not only working with us, but also producing events similar to ours, is critical to the event’s success,” she said.
The experience
In a very real sense, supporting organizations like Clemson University and the United Way are at the heart of the GCC’s role showcasing and supporting the Greenville community.
Hollander said one of the often overlooked — and sometimes neglected — aspects of a convention center’s role is how it connects with its surrounding community. He said many times in other communities, local residents often view their convention centers as solely occupied with attracting tourists and trade shows.
In other words, outsiders.
But Hollander said the GCC team is different, in no small part because most of its members are from here and have worked at the facility for years.
“There’s a real value to us having a team that is from the community and has the tenure with an understanding of the building,” he said.
That value was revealed in August when Hollander briefed Greenville City Council on the convention center’s successes so far this fiscal year. He said the venue is notching up record attendance and revenue numbers.
“What’s exciting for me is the team that’s kind of in the trenches making all that happen and supporting all those events (is), to a great extent, the team that was always here,” Hollander said.
He added his team members’ pride in their work and their community come through in the experience they’re able to deliver for clients.
In a larger sense, this is part of Greenville and the Greenville Convention Center’s appeal: that hard-to-put-into-words sense of community and belonging.
Dillard said this is a strength he and Hollander rely on; namely, that if they can just get people here, Greenville’s community “mojo” works its magic.
“It’s not only anecdotally true, but it is empirically true,” Dillard said. “We can make Greenville look great in a trade show booth in another city … but it’s wholly different when you get them here and they can experience it for themselves.”
Greenville Convention Center 60th Anniversary
Timeline highlights
1964 — $1.5 million Textile Hall completed on current site off North Pleasantburg Drive in time to host the 23rd Southern Textile Exposition in October.
1965 — The inaugural Greenville Auto Show is held in February, the first event open to the public at Textile Hall.
1966 — The site welcomes the Rev. Billy Graham’s Southern Piedmont Crusade, which brings nearly 280,000 visitors over 10 days in March. In October, the hall’s first expansion adds 66,000 square feet to bring the total space to 315,000 square feet.
1969 — Second expansion completed, adding 122,000 square feet to bring total space to 444,000 square feet.
1970 — Inaugural Motor Sport Expo is held in February featuring a range of recreational vehicles and boats.
1971 — The first Holiday Fair is held.
1973 — Seventh annual Health and Science Fair welcomes Apollo 16 astronaut Charles Duke, one of 12 men to have walked on the moon and a native of Lancaster.
1974 — ITEX-74, formerly known as the Southern Textile Exposition, opens in October to welcome 23,000 visitors and 775 exhibits from 17 countries.
1977 — The seventh annual Holiday Fair grows to require 80,000 square feet of exhibit space, a more than fourfold expansion of the popular local event.
1981 — The Textile Hall Sports Center opens for the first time and features an ice-skating exhibition.
1984 — The inaugural Bi-Lo Food and Nutrition Expo takes place in January and welcomes Vanessa Williams, Miss USA 1984. Thousands turned out and had to wait in line after the fire marshal determined the hall had reached maximum safe capacity.
1986 — $3.5 million renovation announced to add air conditioning to four exhibit areas. The name is changed to Palmetto International Exposition Center.
1989 — The 27th Southern Home and Garden Show moves to the exposition center after 26 years at Greenville Memorial Auditorium.
1991 — $12 million expansion announced, which includes a freestanding conference center.
1993 — The name is changed to Palmetto International Exhibition and Convention Center, which was promptly shortened to Palmetto Expo Center.
1997 — Greenville Star Trek Convention welcomes Marina Sirtis and George Takei from the iconic sci-fi television franchise.
2001 — The city of Greenville purchases Palmetto Expo Center from Textile Hall Corp., saving the venue from foreclosure.
2005 — Palmetto Expo Center and the city welcome New Orleans evacuees fleeing the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.
2007 — Carolina First Bank purchases the naming rights to the center and announces a $22 million renovation.
2008 — Carolina First renovation is completed, giving the Carolina First Center 275,000 square feet of exhibit space, 30,000 square feet of meeting space and a 30,000-square-foot ballroom.
2009 — The inaugural Fall Southern Home and Garden Show is held Oct. 30-Nov. 1 at Carolina First Center.
2011 — The facility becomes TD Convention Center following TD Bank’s acquisition of Carolina First Bank and the assumption of naming rights.
2012 — American Veterans Traveling Tribute, a mobile replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C., is displayed at the TD Convention Center in late June and early July.
2017 — The inaugural Clemson University Men of Color National Summit is held in April and welcomes veteran journalist and broadcaster John Quinones as keynote speaker.
2018 —TD Convention Center is renamed Greenville Convention Center in recognition of its community roots and central role in welcoming visitors to Greenville.
2020 — In March, Earvin “Magic” Johnson speaks to the fourth annual Clemson University Men of Color Summit. Shortly thereafter, GCC becomes the center for media briefings, testing and public mask distribution in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic.
2023 — “Jurassic Quest,” a popular interactive dinosaur exhibit, draws young and old visitors alike from across the Upstate in March.
GCC notable visitors through the years
Here’s a who’s who of some notable visitors through the decades to the Greenville Convention Center:
- Billy Graham, American evangelist and spiritual leader
- Charles Duke, Apollo 16 astronaut
- Vanessa Williams, Miss America 1984
- Marina Sirtis and George Takei, cast members from “Star Trek” television and movie fame
- Patti LaBelle, American singer
- George W. Bush, 43rd President of the United States
- Martin Luther King III, son of famed civil rights activist
- Donna Richardson Joyner, national fitness expert
- Martha Reeves, American R&B and pop singer
- Jesse Jackson, Greenville native and civil rights activist
- John Quinones, American journalist and television personality
- Earvin “Magic” Johnson, legendary NBA player
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