Funding for the construction of the center is being provided by a 3% hotel-room tax being charged throughout the Fox Cities region.

It was designed by Zimmerman Architectural Studios and Miron Construction served as the general contractor.

It is attached to the Hilton Appleton Paper Valley through a sky-walk, is located next door to the Outagamie County Justice Center, and adjoins Jones Park which has been remodeled to match the convention center and is now open.

The center is connected to the nearby Hilton Appleton Paper Valley Hotel via a skyway, which contains an additional 40,000 square feet (3,700 m2) of ballroom, banquet, and meeting space.

[6] The center features an 82-foot (25 m)-tall spire lit by light-emitting diodes (LEDs) commemorating 1882 when the first hydroelectric power plant in the world was put into operation on the Fox River in Appleton.