SGK Ltd. has wanted to hold another gun and knife show in Fredericksburg ever since it held one in a vacant Spotsylvania Mall store in the early 1990s.

The only difficulty was that there wasn't any place in the area large enough once JCPenney moved into the 40,000-square-foot former Woolworth's store that SGK had used.

That problem will be solved next weekend with the opening of the 120,000-square-foot Fredericksburg Expo & Conference Center off Fall Hill Avenue in Celebrate Virginia. SGK's Fredericksburg Gun Show will be its first event.

"Municipality after municipality are building these types of facilities because conventions and shows are a big part of the travel business," said Judd B. Mendelson, spokesman for Portsmouth-based SGK. "I think its going to be great for the city of Fredericksburg."

The new center is expected to pump millions in tax revenues into the city's coffers, according to David Holder, Fredericksburg's economic development director. None has to be earmarked for debt service because the facility is owned and operated by Ballantine Management Group of Allentown, Pa.

"Most convention centers are heavily subsidized and are essentially public places," he said. "We have one of the very few in the country that are privately funded, managed and operated. It's a pretty big gift to the community."

The Fredericksburg Expo & Conference Center is part of the Celebrate Virginia retail and tourism project that the Silver Cos. is developing along the banks of the Rappahannock River. The project's southern portion lies in the city of Fredericksburg and will include the U.S. National Slavery Museum, offices, shops, restaurants and four hotels. The Stafford side of the project includes Cannon Ridge Golf Course.

That infrastructure is one reason Ballantine Management Group decided to build the expo and conference center, said President Tom Ballantine.

Research had shown that the fast-growing area would be an attractive spot for consumer shows and statewide conferences if it had larger meeting and ballroom spaces, he said. But what sold him on the city were the amenities in Celebrate Virginia.

"We need them," he said. "You can't have a facility like this without adjacent, close-proximity hotels, restaurants and places to shop. Lots of these groups have golf events, too."

Conference participants are the biggest spenders in the travel market because they stay an average of 31/2 nights, eat out and shop--mainly on an expense account, said Fredericksburg's Holder. Their average tab nationally is $278 per person per day, he said. The average day traveler, by comparison, spends $43 per day.

"There are very logical reasons for that," Holder said. "People at conferences usually require some business services during their stay. They may need a florist or some equipment for their trade show exhibit."

Participants at the various consumer expos Ballantine has lined up also are likely to rent hotel rooms, eat at local restaurants and shop. SGK's Fredericksburg Gun Show, for example, is expected to attract 85 vendors and up to 5,000 visitors during its Jan. 28 and 29 run. The vendors already have booked 40 hotel rooms locally, and will be patronizing nearby restaurants, shops and attractions, Mendelson said.

"You know, if there's a bunch of stuff nearby to do, my gun dealers can enjoy the show more and are more likely to come," he said.

SGK is one of a number of promoters, associations and brides that have called the Fredericksburg Expo & Conference Center to line up dates, said Sam Voisin, the general manager.

"We typically do five or six site visits a day," he said. "Dates are going quickly."

So far, Voisin has posted four consumer expos on the center's Web site, fredericksburgexpocenter.com. They are the Fredericksburg Boat Show on Feb. 3-5, Northeast Motorcycle Expo Feb. 18-19, Fredericksburg RV Sale & Camping Expo Feb. 24-26 and Fredericksburg Home and Garden Show March 10-12.

Voisin also has scheduled 15 or 20 wedding receptions and is lining up a number of military dances, local meetings and other events.

Larger events, such as the Fredericksburg Gun Show, will take place in the main hall, which has 80,000 square feet of exhibit space that can be divided to accommodate several shows simultaneously. The center also has a 10,000-square-foot banquet room that can seat 900 people or be divided into six banquet/meeting rooms; five meeting rooms; and a 1,200-car parking lot.

It has the largest meeting space in the area. Next in size is the Riverside Center Dinner Theater and Conference Facility in southern Stafford County, which has 7,500 square feet that can be rented for conferences, banquets and smaller trade shows.

Ballantine said it will take about a year to get a full complement of conferences and shows at his new center.

"It's a two- to three-year window to organize some of these events," he said. "We're actually bidding on conferences and events as far out as 2008."

Date published: 1/22/2006

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