Venue management company ASM Global oversees day-to-day operations of the 1.8-million-square-foot (170,000 m2) facility, including 447,000 square feet (41,500 m2) of exhibit space, three ballrooms, and 75 meeting rooms.

[2] The convention center was conceived in 1969 as a way for the City of Columbus to generate economic revenue by hosting events and revitalize the downtown area after a period of decline.

[6] Funding construction remained an issue and Battelle Memorial Institute stepped in with a large donation and appointed Batelle official Clyde Tipton Jr. to lead the project.

[11] Its avant-garde design of the building was also intended as a lure for conventions and trade shows and anchor the revitializing Short North neighborhood.

Officials from the Columbus Division of Fire were concerned that part of the building, including the main hall, might collapse due to structural failure.

The SMG-managed Greater Columbus Convention Center reopened for business as usual the morning after successfully restoring the north facility to regular conditions in the aftermath of a 16-inch water-main rupture at Swan and High Streets.

[21] In 2010, ground was broken for the publicly financed, 532-room Hilton Columbus Downtown to help meet the growing demand for events at the convention center.

[24] The survey recommended the expansion of the Hyatt Regency or the Hilton Columbus Downtown to meet the need of a 1,000-room hotel for convention-center area lodging, estimating $22.5 million a year in direct spending.

[10] The facade of the building along a three-block stretch of High Street alternates masonry and glass cladding and is broken up in 11 segments.

The interior concourse has a zigzagging path that breaks up its length and creates the illusion of height through skylights, overhead footbridges and suspended ceilings.Executive Director of the Franklin County Convention Facilities Authority, Claire S. Hazucha, felt that the building's nontraditional design would be a selling point.

[13] Owned and developed by the Franklin County Convention Facilities Authority, the GCCC embarked on a full-scale exterior and interior renovation in 2015 that was completed in 2017.