[3] The groundbreaking of the Istanbul Sports and Exhibition Hall building took place on January 30, 1948 in presence of the city's governor and mayor Lütfi Kırdar (1887-1961).

Kırdar refused the proposal of the chairman of the Istanbul Soccer and Athletes' Federation made during the ceremony that the building to be named after him, with the rationale unethical while still alive and in office.

[3] To meet the increasing demand in the sector, the venue was expanded with a new building in 2000, called "Rumeli Fair and Exhibition Center".

[3] For hosting the 2009 IMF and World Bank Group Annual Meeting, the center was expanded with a nine-level underground submerged structure of 120,000 m2 (1,300,000 sq ft).

[6] The building is connected with a passage to Istanbul Congress Center and Harbiye Muhsin Ertuğrul Stage across the street, which is closed to traffic.