The BASE (Business, Arts, Sports, and Entertainment) centre has opened to the public at the Extraco Events Center, home of the Heart O’ Texas Fair and Rodeo, in Waco, Texas. The US$32m, multipurpose facility was designed by architects Populous with the goal of bringing more business and tourism to Waco including meetings and tradeshows.
In 2015, Populous published a 40-year master plan for the site, which involved collaboration with the County, City and School District Stakeholders, and identified the need for a new Expo Center, Livestock and Equestrian Facilities, RV Parking, as well as High School and City Sports Complexes.
The BASE is the first project of the master plan to be built, and is the new front door to the site. It is situated next to the existing Extraco Coliseum, and offers visitors 52,000 sq.ft (4,830sqm) of clear-span, multipurpose flexible exhibition space….