FROM THE PLAIN DEALER: The outlines of Cuyahoga County's $465 million medical mart and convention center are taking shape downtown. With all demolition and excavation work complete, construction crews are forming the foundations and walls of what will become more than 500,000 square feet of medical showrooms, convention space, meeting rooms and a grand ballroom.

Crews began installing nine new columns underneath Lakeside Avenue. For the past two months, Lakeside Avenue has been supported on the western edge of the project by a series of beams and hydraulic jacks. The steel beams were recycled from the roof of the former Cleveland Convention Center. Crews removed nine existing columns to significantly increase the clearance depth under Lakeside Avenue, providing the necessary space to expand the truck dock and truck access into the new facility.

FROM TRADE SHOW NEWS NETWORK (TSNN): Merchandise Mart Properties Inc., which oversees the Cleveland Medical Mart & Convention Center, and Turner Construction, the project’s builder, have teamed up to help local Cleveland youth for growth opportunities.

FROM CRAIN'S CLEVELAND BUSINESS: Cleveland is the place to be — at least if you are holding a big industrial trade show. That's the word from Positively Cleveland, the group that markets Clevelandas a tourism and convention destination, along with those who hold the shows themselves. Even two years before the city's new convention center is finished, big industrial organizations already are signing up to use it. And when they do, some shows will bring thousands of people to town, Positively Cleveland says.

Construction continues on Cleveland Medical Mart & Convention Center with 39 of the 66 caissons poured on the Convention Center site. Meanwhile, more than 800 yards of concrete foundation was poured under Lakeside Avenue and nine permanent columns under Lakeside Avenue will begin shortly.