Embassy Suites Building a Sky Bridge to the Tampa Convention Center

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. October 14, 2008

TAMPA, FL, May 30, 2006. A skybridge that enables pedestrians to easily access the Tampa Convention Center from the soon-to-open Embassy Suites Hotel(R) Tampa-Downtown Convention Center will be the only walkway of its kind in Tampa.

Bypassing street level traffic enables guests to pass seamlessly from the hotel to the Tampa Convention Center's meeting and banquet space while offering picturesque views of downtown Tampa's lively waterfront. Designed by Campo Architects and built by WPM Construction LLC, the open-air skybridge is expected to be completed by July.

The pre-cast concrete passageway will be created on-site and hoisted in place by crane. When finished, the 31-ton pedestrian passageway will measure eight feet wide, 158 feet long and tower 20 feet above Franklin Street. The skybridge creates a synergy between the 20-story hotel and the convention center that no other downtown hotel offers meeting attendees. Decorative elements depicting native wildlife and representative Florida scenes will be incorporated into the design.

The 600,000-square-foot Tampa Convention Center offers a diverse selection of meeting space that includes the following:

--200,000 square foot exhibit hall with capacity for 1,000 10x10 booths

--36,000-square-foot ballroom

--36 breakout rooms of which 10 boast waterfront views

--More than 80,000 square feet of pre-function space

--The hotel complements the convention center's meeting capabilities with more than 9,000 square feet of flexible space.

"We are going to enhance the guest experience in downtown Tampa by opening the first all-suite, full service hotel in the downtown area and by creating a visually pleasing, pedestrian-friendly link between the hotel, the convention center and the waterfront," said Michelle Serra, Director of Sales and Marketing. When the all-suite hotel opens July 10, it will be valued in excess of $100 million. WPM Construction LLC is the owner and developer of this project.

Embassy Suites Hotels is a part of Hilton Hotels Corporation, an internationally recognized, preeminent hospitality company.