NEW ORLEANS—The New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center has installed the first two of more than 60 planned water bottle refill stations as part of ongoing efforts to make the facility an industry leader in sustainability. These first installations are a pilot test for a building-wide rollout in the coming months.
Both of the newly installed refill stations can be found on the Convention Center Boulevard-side of Lobby B. Visitors to the Center can place their reusable water bottles up to the station’s infrared sensor, which will then dispense chilled and filtered water. The station will keep a running tally of how many single-use plastic bottles were spared from landfills as a result of using the water bottle refill station. Eventually, most of the public restrooms in the Convention Center will have two or more of these new refill stations, totaling more than 60 new installations within the next few years.
These new installations also mark the beginning of a renovation project for the facility’s restrooms. In total, all 36 of the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center’s restrooms will be remodeled in order to improve the experience of the Center’s guests. The restroom remodels will also include new water-saving technology, which further demonstrates the facility’s commitment to environmentally friendly conservation efforts.
The Convention Center restroom renovation project along with the water refill station installations are part of a $557 million five-year modernization plan that will transform the guest experience including reimagined meeting rooms, restrooms and public spaces. A 1,200-room headquarters hotel connected to the Center is slated to open in 2024. The hotel will be surrounded with a 39-acre mixed-use project on an adjacent tract owned by the Ernest N. Morial New Orleans Exhibition Hall Authority.
