ALTHOUGH CONSTRUCTION on the Jackson Convention Complex is far from being completed, officials say the project is already drawing new attention - and dollars - to the capital city.

“We already have a million dollars in business on the books,” said General Manager Linda McCarthy. “And that’s just through the first year. We have events booked through 2012.”

Of the events booked, the $65 million center will host a Motor Trend International Automobile Show, National Cheer Stars, a national cheerleading competition, the Mississippi Department of Education Student Organization Meeting, an outdoors show, and a home and garden show.

The auto show, McCarthy said, is expected to draw more than 15,000 visitors to downtown Jackson and the surrounding area in a period of three days. In years past, the city hasn’t been able to host shows like the one sponsored by Motor Trend Auto Shows Inc., because it hasn’t had the space.

“We’re the capital city and we’ve been losing business to Tupelo, Natchez and Hattiesburg, because we couldn’t accommodate (large conventions),” she said. “This complex gives us the opportunity to go after that national business and make Jackson competitive again.

In recent months, Strategic Management Group (SMG), the international firm hired by Jackson to oversee the facility, has been working to bring that business to the capital city. SMG is now planning a $107,000 national print campaign to target corporate businesses and trade show promoters.

Other events the group is trying to attract to the center are the Cajunland Volleyball Tournament, and a motorcycle show. “Our goal is to book as many events as possible,” she said. “There are 365 event days every year and we’d like to book something for every one of them.

“If someone wants to have an event Christmas Day, we’ll book them,” she said. “Our philosophy is to get new money and people in our hotels, museums and shops to generate sales tax.”

THE CONVENTION center is located on Pascagoula Street and Lamar Street near the Mississippi TelCom Center. Recently, Gov. Haley Barbour signed legislation officially merging it with the Capital City Convention Center to create the Jackson Convention Complex, McCarthy said.

According to a press release, the 330,000-square-foot facility will include a crystalline folding glass façade, a 60,000-square-foot exhibit hall, a 25,000-square-foot carpeted ballroom, 10,000-square-foot kitchen, 10 meeting rooms, and 33,000 square feet of carpeted pre-function lobby and registration space. The facility will also include an outdoor patio overlooking the downtown corridor.

It will also boast great accommodations, including rigging points for lighting and staging, and loading docks and ramps with roll-up doors. State-of-the-art audio-visual and telecommunications equipment, as well as satellite and cable television distribution, and plasma screen monitors will also be included.

Work on the project is about 63 percent complete. SMG hopes to “get the keys” in January.

THE FACILITY IS only a small part of the roughly $2 billion in construction projects in the works for downtown Jackson. Last week, five to seven condominiums were rolled out as part of the Cityview development, a project that will create high-end apartments along North State Street.

Other ongoing projects include the King Edward Hotel renovation, the Old Capitol Green project and the Ceva Green project.

Two other projects are also in the works. Officials with Duvall Decker Architects in Fondren recently told the Jackson City Council of their plans to update the Mississippi Arts Center. The proposal, which hadn’t been finalized at the time of publication, included removing an old sculpture garden and replacing it with a retail center and tearing down the southern wing of the arts center to make way for a new recital hall and 10 stories of luxury apartments overlooking downtown Jackson.

According to the Jackson, Mississippi Convention and Visitor Bureau’s Web site, another firm is planning to develop more property near the convention complex.

Officials with TCI Mississippi Investments are planning to transform the property along Pascagoula, Lamar and Pearl streets into a roughly $200 million mixed-use development. Features of the project include two hotels, two parking garages, 150 senior apartments, 200 market rate apartments and retail space.

“The complex is a catalyst for growth,” she said. “It is really important to the city’s economy.”