PORTLAND, OR— Hilton Hotels Corp. opened its newly constructed 327-room Hilton Portland Executive Tower in late June, welcoming business executives and conventioneers on the former site of the Greyhound Bus Depot. Located in the heart of downtown Portland, the new Hilton tower was developed by Melvin Mark Development Company, designed by locally based Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership, and is owned by Hilton Hotels Corp. The addition of the Executive Tower combines with the existing Hilton Portland to create the largest convention hotel in the state of Oregon for a total of 66,000 square feet of flexible meeting facilities and 783 guestrooms. All hotel guestrooms in the new tower feature high-speed Internet access, two dual-line telephones with dataports, two robes, electronic locks, and Internet access via television. Large-scale conventions including the Society for the Preservation & Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America, the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC), and the North American Gay Amateur Athletic Alliance 2002 Softball World Series (NAGAAA) are already booked as some of the towers initial guests. A grand opening fundraising gala to dedicate the Executive Tower is planned for late September, which will benefit United Way of the Columbia-Willamette.
