It is best known for the twin spire towers, which provide light into the building's interior and for housing the world's largest[3] Foucault pendulum.

It was the first existing one to receive the highest, platinum rating in the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED certification program and is the only one to have it for operations and maintenance.

The collection includes paintings, plaques, glass and ceramic tiles, sconces, mosaics, bells, and parts of a large Douglas fir.

[citation needed] Construction on a 30,000-square-foot (2,800 m2), full-block "outdoor plaza" facility for convention-related activities started in 2011 across the street from the center, to the east.

[9] Metro has proposed a 600-room hotel adjacent to the Convention Center, to be built by Mortenson Construction, then owned and operated as a Hyatt Regency.

[14] The convention center was chosen as the host venue for the 2016 IAAF World Indoor Championships after Portland won their bid over Birmingham, England.

[15] On March 20, 2020, amidst the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic, the center was turned into Portland's second temporary shelter for the homeless population of the city in order to protect them from being infected by COVID-19.