Kokomo Conference Center, hotel promise to spur new tourism

This article is brought to you by Freedom Financial.

It took 13 years, two city administrations, and several false starts, but Kokomo has a new jewel in its crown. The Kokomo Conference Center and Hilton Garden Inn hotel officially opened for business on Sept. 21, and the community turned out to welcome it.

The facility, which features a spacious exhibition hall, multiple conference rooms, and a new home for the Kokomo Automotive Heritage Museum, was warmly received by the more than 100 people in attendance. And there was no shortage of gratitude and optimism expressed.

“I’m really honored to be able to say this, but welcome to the Kokomo Conference Center,” said Lori Dukes, president of the Greater Kokomo Economic Development Alliance. “I am beyond excited to be able to finally say that. What makes today so exciting isn’t simply that we’re opening a new hotel and conference center. It’s that we’re standing inside something that people across this community believed in.

While the Alliance took the lead on developing the project, Dukes made it known that the conference center was made possible by the efforts of many in the community, from the Kokomo Convention and Visitors Bureau to the city and county administrations to the North Central Indiana Regional Planning Council, State Rep. Mike Karickhoff, the project consultants, and SSG, which developed the adjoining hotel.

“Every contribution mattered,” said Dukes. “Every conversation, every challenge, every decision, every bit of blood, sweat, and tears brought us here to this moment today. And now we get to see what all of that made possible.”

Dukes asserted that the convention center gives Kokomo the capacity to pursue new tourism and to hold events at a level that was previously unattainable. Since the closure of the Kokomo Event Center on Ind. 931, trade shows and conventions have had few options in the city, and the creation of conference space further improves on the range of events that can be accommodated.

“This project isn’t really about what we see here today,” said Dukes. “It’s about what we do with it tomorrow. What comes through those doors next will be shaped by the very people in this room and by the community we continue to build together.”

Mayor Tyler Moore made sure to acknowledge the members of the Pioneer Auto Club, which maintained the automotive heritage museum in its previous home at the Kokomo Event Center. Today, 10 historical automobiles, manufactured in Kokomo, are on display in the lower level of the conference center. The museum’s inclusion ensures the city can display its automotive history for years to come.

“They’ve been very patient as we created a new home for them,” said Moore.

The mayor then recounted the day ground was broken to begin the project: Aug. 14, 2024. At that time, Moore encouraged those at the ceremony to pinch each other to ensure the project was real. Now at its completion, he gave a new instruction.

“We ain’t got to do no pitching today because we’re in this amazing facility,” said Moore. “Instead of pitching to the person to your right, turn to (them) and say thank you and congratulations because this community is what helped make this project happen.”

The conference center sits at 121 E. Superior St., the site of city founder David Foster’s original homestead. It is on that land that the trader established what would become Kokomo. That physical history may be buried beneath tons of dirt and stone today, but its spirit remains in the new building.

Moore highlighted that the conference rooms on the second floor are named after the community’s most recognizable figures from history, from Elwood Haynes and the Apperson brothers to David Foster and his wife Elizabeth, and even the possibly fictional Chief Koh-Koh-Mah of the Miami tribe that once called this region home.

“Entrepreneurs and inventors, community builders, people whose lives have shaped this place, and the Native American history that was here long before Kokomo became the city we know today,” Moore said. “Those names remind us that a community is never built by one person or in one generation. We inherit something from the people who came before us, and when we have a responsibility to build on it, we do it.”

The crowd also heard from Howard County Councilman Daryl Maple, CVB board president Dean Hockney, and CVB directory Sherry Matlock during the ceremony, with each expressing gratitude to the many who contributed to the conference center’s development.

“Kokomo is known more for sports, with Championship Park and Northwest Park,” said Hockney. “Now we can be known for a conference center with a hotel attached in right downtown. That has been a long time coming.”

Matlock explained how visitors to the conference center will mean economic impact across the city. Those visitors shop and dine during their stay, visit city attractions, and explore the downtown area. And it means even more.

“A visitor who has a great experience becomes someone who knows Kokomo,” said Matlock. “They may come back. They may bring their family. They may tell a colleague about their experience. A company that discovers Kokomo through an event may see something here that it hadn’t seen before.

“A visit can create a connection, and a connection can create an opportunity. Over time, these opportunities can help shape the future of a community. They will leave with an impression of our community, and that impression matters, because every visitor who leaves Kokomo will take a little piece of our community with them.”

After the speeches, the Kokomo Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon cutting before allowing those in attendance to explore the facility and take in its sights. The larger community will get this opportunity in just a few days as the Kokomo Home Show is slated for the conference center on Oct. 2-3.

See additional photos of the Kokomo Conference Center and the opening event on the Lantern’s Facebook page.