Address: 105 N. Main St., Midland, Texas 79701

The Midland Convention Center is the city convention center for Midland, Texas. We are managed by the Midland Chamber of Commerce.

The location of the Midland Convention Center has a long history of being a meeting place. In 1882 the Llano Hotel was constructed. This hotel served as a meeting place for area farmers, ranchers and businessmen. In 1903, Andrew Fasken, along with other investors, began the Midland National Bank on the 2nd floor of the Llano Hotel. To make the building look more prestigious, they put a brick veneer on the Llano hotel building. However, in 1909 the building burned down due to a large fire that burned several major buildings in the area. The Llano hotel was rebuilt to be better and more fire resistant. A few years later, in 1919, John Thomas and Clarence Scharbauer opened a small hospital (what we would call a clinic) on the 2nd floor of the hotel.

Over the years that location has gone from being a hotel and bank to a City Drug (pharmacy), a bar, and other meeting locations throughout the years. In 1980, the current Midland Convention Center was constructed and continued to be a meeting place for Midlanders.

Located in the heart of downtown Midland, the Midland Convention Center has provided the flexibility to accommodate meetings, conventions, trade shows, banquets, and a variety of specialty events. Each year the facility hosted hundreds of events from small and intimate to large and formal.

Adjacent to the Midland Center is Centennial Plaza, an open-air amphitheater amidst beautiful landscaping. When an event calls for an outdoor setting, the Centennial Plaza provided an ideal location for public festivals, family reunions, and private weddings. The Plaza has been home to several festivals throughout the years including the Arts Council’s annual Celebration of the Arts, Tall City Blues Festival, and the Midland Chamber of Commerce’s Star Spangled Salute.

It has also played host to other outdoor concerts featuring such artists as Pat Green, Cross Canadian Ragweed, and Jerry Jeff Walker. Centennial Plaza also hosted George W. Bush as he gave his last speech before being sworn in as the 43rd President of the United States and was also the location of the first public address he made after leaving office.

In the coming years we will be working toward creating a new space for the Midland Convention Center and Centennial Plaza in order to draw larger events into the area as well as provide an updated space for the community events we currently serve. The goal of the new Midland Convention Center is to "create a gathering space where Midland's unique history and identity meet the community's vision for the future."