As reported earlier, the final barriers to the long-awaited Cleveland Medical Mart and adjoining Convention Center have finally been lifted, and the project is now proceeding full speed ahead, with Turner Construction and URS on board as key players. Needless to say, this is very exciting news for those of us in the Greater Cleveland area, as the Medical Mart looks to be exactly the kind of large-scale project that will help drive visitors to the downtown area, providing an economic boost at a most opportune time. Due to open in 2013, the complex has generated much excitement (and some of that good-old Cleveland angst, too) and now finally looks to be on track, with definitive names and dates attached. But the story resonantes on a national level, as well. The proposed Medical Mart will house showrooms for some of the world’s most prominent medical manufacturers, and the attached Convention Center will surely draw industry trade shows to the area, making the complex a one-stop shop of sorts for those in the healthcare design and construction industries. Just as the annual NeoCon conference (also hosted by MMPI, Inc., the drivers behind the Cleveland project) has become a must-attend event for those in the design business, the Cleveland Medical Mart should lead to similar status for our humble town. I want to personally congratulate all involved in the project, and I look forward to monitoring the progress of the Medical Mart. And of course, I hope to see many more of our readers here in Cleveland in the years to come.