The Ernest N. Morial Convention Center is located in Downtown New Orleans, Louisiana, United States.

Venue: New Orleans Morial Convention Center
Town: Louisiana, US

The Ernest N. Morial Convention Center is located in Downtown New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. The lower end of building one is located 1,640 feet (500 m) upriver from Canal Street on the banks of the Mississippi River. It is named after former Mayor of New Orleans Ernest Nathan Morial. It has about 1.1 million sq. ft. (102,000 m2) of exhibit space, covering almost 11 blocks, and over 3 million sq. ft. (280,000 m2) of total space, making it the seventh largest convention center in the United States. The front of the main building is 1 kilometer long. The center was planned starting in 1978. It is the fifth-largest facility of its kind in the United States, and as of early 2005 was the second-busiest. The first portion of the building was constructed as part of the 1984 Louisiana World Exposition; a series of additions in subsequent decades expanded the center further upriver. The complex was named in honor of Ernest N. Morial, the city's first African American mayor, in 1992. In 2008, the center was renamed the New Orleans Morial Convention Center in order to emphasize its New Orleans location. From August 26 through 27, 2005, Wheel of Fortune came to tape three weeks of shows at the convention center. But as Hurricane Katrina threatened the area, they canceled the last week in order to evacuate. In the aftermath of Katrina, the Convention Center was the second most important shelter for survivors, after the Louisiana Superdome. After serving as a temporary medical clinic for some time, the structure again began welcoming conventions in early 2006, including that of the American Library Association. After Hurricane Katrina passed through the city in 2005, thousands of evacuees were directed to the Convention Center as an unofficial evacuation center. In the confusion following the disaster, people escaping from flooded neighborhoods were directed to the Convention Center by police and word of mouth, with the expectation that there would be provisions, aid, and