The lifting of the first beam marked the start of the major construction project, which involves the expansion of Hotel Gothia Towers with a third tower and the addition of six new floors to the East Tower.
On a sunny October day the staff of the Swedish Exhibition & Congress Centre gathered at the spot where the third tower will rise proudly by the year-end 2014, making the Centre Europe’s largest fully integrated venue.
Accompanied by the Artillery Orchestra, the Swedish Exhibition & Congress Centre’s chairman of the board, Roger Holtback, welcomed those present to witness a milestone in the Centre’s nearly 100-year history.
The Swedish Exhibition & Congress Centre’s CEO, Carin Kindbom, spoke about the enormous challenge now facing the organisation.
“This is a triple boost. Firstly, we will get 450 new rooms in the third tower as well as another 50 new, luxury rooms in the East Tower. The second boost is for the meetings industry and the third is for Gothenburg, which now gets a unique city centre facility.”
Following Carin Kindbom’s speech, a symbolic first beam was lifted into the air marking the official project start.
The ceremony was concluded by releasing 1,200 balloons over Gothenburg. Over 300 of these contained vouchers for Hotel Gothia Towers’ famous prawn sandwich.
