CITY BEAT 4-1-2003

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CITY BEATBranson, Mo.
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NEW MEETINGS MALL
Work on a $300 million waterfront retail and convention complex should begin this year on Lake Taneycomo, a mile from the city’s entertainment center. Highlights include a 90,000-square-foot aquarium, a 300-room hotel, and a convention center with 60,000 square feet of exhibit space and 35,000 square feet of meeting and ballroom space. The retail complex is slated to open in mid-2004, the convention center and hotel by late 2005.

Nashville, Tenn.
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RAMPED-UP FACILITY
The Nashville Convention Center is becoming more wheelchair-friendly. A renovation, set to finish this summer, also will refurbish the center’s ballroom wing. Plans to expand the center or build a new one, however, are still in discussion, as city officials try to choose a site and determine how to fund the plan. Meanwhile, the 2,881-room Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center finished its own renovation last summer that included new, extensive directional signage.