Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre

Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre
Address Bridge of Don
Aberdeen
Scotland AB23 8BL
Owner Aberdeen City Council
Opened 1985
Renovated 2003
Classroom-style seating
 440 (Fleming Auditorium)
Banquet/ballroom 685 (Gordon Suite)
533 (Crombie Suite)
244 (Forbes Suite)
Theatre seating
 8,500 (GE Oil & Gas Arena)
2,000 (Boyd Orr Hall)
Enclosed space
 • Total space 9,849 square metres (110,000 sq ft)
 • Exhibit hall floor 7,300 square metres (79,000 sq ft)
 • Breakout/meeting 1,033 square metres (11,000 sq ft)

Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre (also known as the General Electric Exhibition Centre and often shortened to the AECC), is a large exhibition and conference complex, in Aberdeen, Scotland. The complex is home to a Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express hotel, conference facilities and the 4,800-seat multi-purpose GE Oil and Gas Arena[1] (formerly the Press & Journal Arena from 2002-2012), which can hold around 4,000 to 8,500 people, depending on the size of the performance.

The arena currently hosts local sporting events, including the Aberdeen Cup tennis event. In recent years, the AECC underwent a major refurbishment,[2] with the conference facilities being completely re-built. As part of the redevelopment, a large viewing tower was constructed and is one of the tallest structures in Aberdeen.

Events

History

The viewing tower

Oasis have played several times over the years – their first being two performances on the 19–20 September 1997.[3] They returned for another two gigs on the 9–10 September 2002[4] and once more on the 12 December 2005.[5] They performed their most recent, and probably last concerts at the venue on the 1–2 November 2008.[6] All these gigs were sold out in a matter of minutes. Noel Gallagher returned to the venue on the 14 February 2012[7] as part of his High Flying Birds Tour. The concert was a sell-out in both capacity and mentally.

Iron Maiden, Neil Young and AC/DC are some the biggest acts in its history when AC/DC played in 1996, Young in 2009 and Iron Maiden in 2011.

On 15 June 2014, American country star Dolly Parton performed a sold out concert at the venue.[8] The concert sold out in less than 10 minutes from going on sale.[9]

Within the last decade it has hosted major international acts including the likes of Steps (group), Kylie Minogue, blink-182, Rihanna, The Prodigy, Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance, Foo Fighters, Jay-Z, 50 Cent, The Killers, Hey Ocean, Katy Perry and Paramore, as well as comedians such as Frankie Boyle, Ricky Tomlinson, Peter Kay, Michael McIntyre and Russell Howard.

One Direction have also played the AECC as part of The X Factor Live Tour 2011.

Since 2006, it has played host to the Premier League Darts.

The arena has also played host to WWE wrestling events, Torville and Dean, Disney on Ice, World Snooker's Grand Prix Championship, The X Factor Live Tour and The Britain's Got Talent Live Tour.

The AECC also hosts many trade conference and exhibitions the largest of which is the biennial SPE Offshore Europe the oil and gas exhibition and conference that which place on alternate years in September.

Replacement Centre

In September 2012, talks got underway to replace the 27-year-old arena with a new £20 million facility on the same site amid claims that the arena was missing out on big acts due its comparatively small 8,000-seat capacity.[10]

On October 18, 2013, the city council announced plans to spend £200 million on a rebuild of the AECC, but also raised the possibility of relocating the venue to a new site.[11] Then on October 31, it was announced that the go ahead had been given to the relocation, with Henry Boot as the preferred development partner. Artists impressions were released for a new centre and arena to be built at the Rowett Institute currently owned by the University of Aberdeen in the city's Bucksburn area near Aberdeen Airport and close to the Aberdeen International Business Park.

The council says the will completed by 2019, accommodating 10,000 people seated and 12,500 standing. Other facilities include office and leisure space, plus an adjoining 4-star Hilton hotel with options for two more.[12][13] An artist's impression the new AECC was released on November 1, 2013, together with an estimate of the final bill at around £185 million.[14]

In September 2014, public consultations took place[15] prior to the final planning application being submitted in May 2015 for the Bucksburn[16] site and redevelopment of the current AECC site at Bridge of Don.[17]

The planned spending total of the new project is £333 million.

References

Coordinates: 57°11′11″N 2°5′14″W / 57.18639°N 2.08722°W / 57.18639; -2.08722

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