Monroeville Convention Center to close
No events after June 1; Hobby Lobby going in
After more than a decade hosting shows and events, the Monroeville Convention Center is shutting down June 1.
The center, housed in a former Wickes furniture store and located near Monroeville Mall, will give way to Hobby Lobby after its closing.
Megan Stearman, a spokesperson for Oxford Development Company, which owns the building, confirmed Monday that the retailer will be taking over the space.
“This new business in the heart of Monroeville’s retail business district will create jobs that add to the revitalization of Monroeville with the regular presence of employees, customers, and vendors,” she said in a statement Monday.
Ms. Stearman said that events scheduled at the center before June 1 will still take place. Those planned after that date “have been provided notice of the convention center closure effective June 1, 2024.”
Sean Logan, executive director and CEO of the Visit Monroeville tourism organization, could not be reached for comment.
This development has forced organizers who were planning Monroeville Convention Center events after that date to figure out new accommodations on the fly.
The Pittsburgh Gaming Expo announced via Facebook earlier Monday that organizers “had already started conversations with other venues in the area” last week “to ensure we have a location for the 2024” expo.
Brian Wissner, the Pittsburgh Gaming Expo’s owner and operator, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Monday evening that 2024 would’ve been his event’s fourth year at the Monroeville Convention Center.
“It’s frustrating,” Mr. Wissner said. “We’re not a big corporate entity. We’re a local, small business that really grew out of the Monroeville Convention Center.
You schedule these things a year out, you start to plan. We were seeing good strong growth and we planned our budget around the arrangements we had with the Monroeville Convention Center.”
Last week, Oxford told Mr. Wissner that “due to significant construction anticipated to begin on June 1, all contracts are being canceled from that date forward.” He didn’t find out about Hobby Lobby’s involvement until much later and after he had already gotten “some irons in the fire” toward hopefully still holding the 2024 Pittsburgh Gaming Expo from Oct. 4-6.
He sees this venue change as an “opportunity for more growth” even while lamenting that he’ll likely have to “start over from the ground up” wherever the Pittsburgh Gaming Expo lands next. His entire operation, from where he stores expo-related equipment to the hotel block he regularly reserves at the nearby DoubleTree by Hotel Hilton Hotel, is based in Monroeville.
“Those things will have to change, which stinks, because ultimately we’ll have to pull business out of Monroeville,” Mr. Wissner said. “There’s no point of us maintaining a hotel block in Monroeville if we’re not in Monroeville. Same with our storage.”
Steel City Con put out a similar note on its Facebook page Monday afternoon regarding its three upcoming shows. The post clarified that its April convention would not be affected and assured prospective attendees that “we are currently in discussions with multiple venues in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area to move” its previously scheduled August and December shows.
Steel City Con co-owner Bob Stein told the Post-Gazette Monday afternoon that he was also surprised to recently learn about Hobby Lobby’s impending Monroeville Convention Center takeover that would seem to mark the end of the longrunning pop culture convention’s run there.
It was too early for Mr. Stein to announce Steel City Con’s new home, although he plans to do so soon. The circumstances surrounding Steel City Con’s departure from the Monroeville Convention Center were less than ideal, but Mr. Stein is still “excited to have our last show there in April.”
“It was a pleasure to be in Monroeville,” he said. “We look forward to what lies ahead.”