The Fox Cities Exhibition Center is a destination venue in downtown Appleton, Wis., designed to hold conventions, trade shows, special events and entertainment functions. Ten area communities came together to help fund the new, $31.9-million facility, which was completed over a 16-month time period starting late in 2016.

The building features 30,000 square feet of combined space in three dividable exhibition halls, along with a pre-function area of 7,250 square feet. There also is a main-floor welcome area, plus additional meeting rooms, at street level. A skywalk connects the facility to the city’s largest downtown hotel.

H.J. Martin and Son handled the commercial flooring installation for this expansive, high-profile project. The company’s work primarily consisted of carpet tile and vinyl rolled flooring.

The project’s architect wanted to incorporate the region’s history into its design, using the concepts of paper, forests, rivers and parks into the overall layout. This effort shows up in the carpet of the pre-function space, which has the slight appearance of logs to incorporate the paper and forest themes.

Flooring types installed by H.J. Martin and Son included Mohawk carpet tile, Durkan custom carpet in the pre-function area, Johnsonite® vinyl and Millwork wall base.

A unique product utilized on this project was Chilewich vinyl woven rolled flooring. It provides a safe and easy surface with varied backing systems, along with the opportunity for designers to use original textiles.

H.J. Martin and Son utilized 2-3 flooring installers over a five-month period leading up to the facility’s opening early in 2018. The crew successfully overcame scheduling constraints and product lead times to complete its work prior to the venue’s initial events.