Mayor Daley officially added over 700,000 square feet to Chicago's convention space today at the ceremony launching McCormick Place West, a glistening new facility south of the Loop.

Calling it a "giant magnet" for national and international conventions and "a catalyst for the South Side," Daley cut the ribbon and framed the addition to McCormick Place as the most important front in the war for America's conventions.

The convention center, which opened on budget and eight months ahead of schedule, cost $882 million in public funds. It will create 25,000 new jobs, said the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, which operates the convention center.

The facility is located at 2301 S. Indiana Ave., across the street from the existing convention center.

The development adds 470,000 square feet of exhibit space to the current total of 2.2 million square feet already at McCormick Place. The site also includes 250,000 feet of meeting space with 61 meeting rooms and a ballroom the size of a football field.

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