2009 Experience Columbus Expy Awards

The sixth annual Experience Columbus Expy Awards recognize businesses and organizations that helped to create a more vibrant Columbus experience in 2008. Award recipients are selected for developing innovative, exciting experiences for visitors, attracting or generating positive media attention or otherwise enhancing Greater Columbus as a destination for conventions, meetings and leisure visitors.

Arnold Sports Festival

The Arnold Sports Festival, the world’s largest multi-sport fitness weekend, celebrated its 20th anniversary in Columbus in 2008. The legendary partnership between event co-producers California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Columbus’ Jim Lorimer has grown the weekend to include 37 events, 12 Olympic sports and the huge Arnold Fitness EXPO, which anchors the festival with 700 exhibits. The Arnold Sports Festival occupies more than 150 hotels throughout the Greater Columbus area; brings in visitor spending estimated at more than $41.2 million; and attracts more than 600 media sources from across the nation and around the world.

Columbus Crew

When the Columbus Crew defeated the New York Red Bulls to win the 2008 Major League Soccer Cup, they delivered to our city its biggest professional sports trophy. The victory not only gave Columbus sports fans a big shot of community pride, but also boosted Columbus’ image as a sports capital around the world. The championship received regional, national and international media exposure. The Crew also was the first team in six years to win the Supporters’ Shield (for best regular-season record) and the MLS Cup in the same season.

Columbus Zoo and Aquarium

Founded in 1927 at Franklin Park with a small menagerie of donated animals, the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium has grown to become the No. 1 rated cultural attraction in Central Ohio and recently was named by USA Travel Guide as the No. 1 zoo in America. It welcomes more than 1.3 million visitors each year and has gained world-wide renown as a conservation center, contributing to the preservation of the world’s wildlife and habitats. In 2008, the zoo added a world-class water park, Zoombezi Bay, which attracted more than 408,000 people from around the state and region.

Franklin Park Conservatory

The installation last August of an architectural light project by world-renowned artist James Turrell transformed Franklin Park Conservatory’s historic John F. Wolfe Palm House with volumes of changing light and color. Titled “Light Raiment II, 2008,” the striking Palm House illumination places Franklin Park Conservatory among a rare group of architectural light projects in the world. The permanent installation, which performs each evening beginning at dusk, has attracted visitors from across Ohio and around the globe, and it has captured the attention of numerous regional and national publications.

Fred Harris

Fred Harris, the general manager of the Holiday Inn on the Lane, is the first individual to be surprised with an Expy. In an industry where moving from hotel to hotel is standard procedure, he has been general manager of the same property for 35 years. Harris has been on the Experience Columbus board of directors since 1982 and is a vocal supporter of the community and the hospitality industry. It will be the end of an era when the Holiday Inn on the Lane, an Ohio State University landmark, closes its doors on March 30 and moves toward its next incarnation as student dormitory housing.