The Baltimore Convention Center is a convention and exhibition hall located in downtown Baltimore, Maryland. The Center is a municipal building owned and operated by the City of Baltimore. The facility was constructed in two separate phases: the original Center, with of exhibition and meeting space, opened in August 1979 at a cost of $51.4 million. A $151 million expansion, which increased the Center's total size to , was completed in April 1997. The 752-room, city-owned Hilton Baltimore hotel opened in August 2008, connected to the convention center by an enclosed skywalk bridge. Another expansion to the Baltimore Convention Center has been proposed at an estimated cost of $400 million that includes a new 500 room hotel and an 18,500 seat arena; this project is estimated to cost $900 million.