McCormick Place is the largest convention center in North America. It consists of four interconnected buildings and one indoor arena sited on and near the shore of Lake Michigan, about 2 mi (3.2 km) south of downtown Chicago, Illinois, United States. McCormick Place hosts numerous trade shows and meetings. The largest regular events are the Chicago Auto Show each February, the International Home and Housewares Show each March, the National Restaurant Association Annual Show each May, and the International Manufacturing Technology Show in the fall every other year.
The original McCormick Place, completed in 1960, seen in 1966 from Lake Michigan before its destruction by fire in 1967.
Lakeside Center looking south from Lake Shore Drive and 18th Street in 2007
Parts of McCormick Place were transformed into a makeshift hospital amid the COVID-19 pandemic
McCormick Square flanked by the West Building (left) and Hyatt Regency Hotel
A convention center is a large building that is designed to hold a convention, where individuals and groups gather to promote and share common interests. Convention centers typically offer sufficient floor area to accommodate several thousand attendees. Very large venues, suitable for major trade shows, are sometimes known as exhibition halls. Convention centers typically have at least one auditorium and may also contain concert halls, lecture halls, meeting rooms, and conference rooms. Some large resort area hotels include a convention center.
The Hanover Fairground in Hanover, Germany
A southern entrance of the Helsinki Fair Centre in Pasila, Helsinki, Finland
Melbourne's Royal Exhibition Building, host of the 1880 World's Fair
Pragati Maidan International Exhibition-cum-Convention Centre(IECC) in New Delhi, India