
DATE: Friday, October 3, 1997               TAG: 9710010144

SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER      PAGE: 06   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: COVER STORY 

SOURCE: BY ERIC FEBER, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:  149 lines

CENTER OF ATTENTION WITH A GRAND ROTUNDA, MARBLE LOBBY AND STATE'S LARGEST BALLROOM, CONFERENCE CENTER OPENS WITH STYLE.

IT'S A LUXURY hotel without the bedrooms.

The grand rotunda lobby of the new Chesapeake Conference Center has the feel of an Omni, Marriott or Hilton hotel. There's the gleaming polished marble floor, lots of direct sunlight from wide open windows and a high angled ceiling of varying lengths and widths.

The center is designed with 15 shades of color, including browns, reds, grays, whites and yellows.

The grand ballroom can be divided into six smaller rooms, with a special service door for each room. And if any future event includes dancing in its schedule, the center has a 100-section parquet dance floor that can be made into any size. A special audio room contains cassette tape decks, compact disc players, stereo FM radio receivers and amplifiers able to pipe music into any of the ballroom rooms.

There's a built-in registration/

ticket sales booth that resembles a hotel front desk and a coat-check desk and closet. Nearby is a shielded area for public phones.

Past the lobby, there's carpeted floors, more high ceilings and subtle use of high windows bathing everything in natural sunlight.

``You get a warm feeling walking into this building; all of our amenities and comfort makes one feel welcome,'' said Bill Lindley, general manager of the new facility, which had its official city grand opening on Monday. ``In many cases, convention centers seem rather cold and impersonal. But we offer a more elegant facility, like a hotel ballroom and lobby with its stylish coloring, carpeting and decor.''

Lindley should know.

Before joining the Chesapeake Conference Center, he was president and CEO of the Jacksonville, Fla., Convention and Visitors' Center. The Birmingham, Ala., native spent a decade working for Hilton Hotels in Chicago, San Diego and Houston. He oversaw the opening of the Norfolk Waterfront Omni Hotel, and he was president and CEO of the Norfolk Visitors and Convention Center.

Lindley said that running the Chesapeake facility enables him to end his Florida commute. Having lived in lived in the area off and on since 1974, he said he wanted to settle here because his wife owns and operates a business in the area.

Since its opening less than a month ago, the conference center has been a busy place.

``I've been extremely happy with the center's development,'' Lindley said. ``It was completed on time and it was done on budget.''

On its opening date of Sept. 5, state Sen. Mark Earley held a fund-raising dinner to help finance his Republican bid for state attorney general; on Sept. 12, the Tidewater Chapter No. 242 of the Air Force Association held a gala dinner/dance/reception to celebrate the United States Air Force's 50th anniversary; and a national 9-ball billiards tournament, with its finals aired over the Fox Cable Sports Network, took place two weeks ago.

The tournament attracted players and spectators from all over the country. It used the center's entire ballroom and included pool tables, bleachers for spectators, a sit-down eating area, a buffet space and all manner of television video equipment installed especially for the competition.

``After we opened, we wanted to hit the ground running,'' Lindley said. ``The tournament worked so well, its returning next year and we're hoping to get a five-year commitment from them.''

But don't just take Lindley's word for the center's initial success.

``I think they're working hard at the conference center to make a

positive statement,'' said Susan G. Bohannon, office manager with the Mark Earley for Attorney General campaign, an event that catered to 750 people including Gov. George F. Allen. ``The entire facility is wonderful and its location is central for this area. This is a definite plus for Chesapeake.

``The staff and kitchen did an excellent job of making sure everything all came together. And the food? No, it definitely wasn't the classic rubber chicken found at many banquets. Our food was exceptional. It was delicious, fresh tasting, well prepared and served elegantly.''

Dittos from Bill Cuthriell, one of the organizers of the Air Force celebration.

``It was superb,'' he said. ``The food was great and the support and service we got from the staff was excellent. Bill Lindley was really trying to please us in every way.''

Lindley said the credit for the food should go to the center's chef, Ed Dagers, who before he joined the conference center was head chef at the prestigious Kingsmill at Williamsburg.

``You can have the prettiest building in the world, but if the food service doesn't work, all you have is a good looking facility and nothing else,'' Lindley said. ``Our chef brings his expertise to the center. With him running our kitchen, we can feed up to 1,600 people in our ballroom.''

Besides Dagers, the center's food staff includes a full-time food/beverage manager and chef's assistant. It brings in additional wait staff and personnel depending on the size of the event. The facility also sports a gleaming, state-of-the-art kitchen with $70,000 worth of cooking equipment.

The facility has its own specially designed dinnerware with 1,600 of each piece, and it has a fleet of slick looking Carter-Hoffman mobile food warmers, each able to keep 240 plates warm for as long as needed without drying the food out.

But the center wasn't without a few problems.

``The lighting in the meeting rooms needs to be improved,'' Lindley said. ``And some hinges on a counter need to be replaced.''

Cuthriell said the only drawback he experienced from the Air Force gala was a somewhat humorous incident of mislabeled food.

``Each table had these large horseradish bowls that looked exactly like Roquefort dressing,'' he said. ``Well, Judge (E. Preston) Grissom, who was sitting next to me, put a heaping tablespoon on his salad. Funny though, he said the salad was still enjoyable and he said his sinuses felt clearer than they've ever been before.''

A more serious problem was noted by Bohannon of the Earley campaign.

``I think the one drawback may be the parking,'' she said. ``With all the people we had, there wasn't enough spaces.''

And no bedrooms, either. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by JOHN BELL

The U.S. Open 9-ball tournament, which attracted players and

spectators from all over the country, used the center's entire

ballroom and included pool tables, bleachers for spectators, a

sit-down eating area, a buffet space and all manner of television

video equipment installed especially for the competition.

Photos including color cover by GARY KNAPP

Marble floors, a high angled ceiling and lots of direct sunlight

give the Conference Center's rotunda the feel of a luxury hotel

lobby.