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The I-X Center is shutting its doors after decades hosting many of Cleveland鈥檚 biggest events, its managing company announced Wednesday afternoon. 

For 35 years, the massive events center brought Northeast Ohioans together for boat shows and trade conventions, garden expositions and the indoor amusement park with its iconic Ferris wheel and unforgettable TV jingle.

But it didn鈥檛 survive the coronavirus pandemic that brought gatherings like those to a halt nationwide. This spring, 76 full- or part-time employees and 100 seasonal workers.

鈥淭he global pandemic has decimated the event industry as well as many other businesses and has ultimately led to this decision,鈥� Marketing Director Claire Anter wrote in a press release. 鈥淭he I-X Center would like to thank all its customers, employees, and attendees who helped make the I-X Center a success over the past 35 years.鈥�

The announcement throws into uncertainty the future of the building, which is owned by the City of Cleveland and abuts Cleveland-Hopkins International Airport. Mayor Frank Jackson鈥檚 office is reviewing its options for a new use for the property, according to a statement released Wednesday evening.

鈥淭he City of Cleveland thanks Ray Park for his many years managing the I-X Center,鈥� the statement reads, referring to Park Corporation founder Raymond Park. 鈥淭he I-X Center has been visited by many who have enjoyed the consumer shows and the exposition events. The City recognizes the challenge operating an exposition facility in an industry that has been severely impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.鈥�

M-41 tanks roll off the assembly line at the Cleveland Tank Plant in this 1960 photo. [Cleveland Press Collection, Michael Schwartz Library at Cleveland State University]

Park Corp. bought the 2.2 million-square-foot Brook Park building 鈥� built in World War II to manufacture bombers and later tanks 鈥� in 1977, spending around $30 million on the purchase and renovation.  

The company opened the facility as the International Exposition Center in 1985, debuting with the International Capital Goods Trade Fair that October.

Dwarfing Cleveland鈥檚 downtown convention center at the time, the I-X Center quickly became a hub for trade shows. The Mid-America Boat Show and Cleveland Auto Show soon decamped from Downtown to take up residence in the giant exposition center beside the Cleveland airport.  

After hosting a few amusement ride events, the center erected a $1.5 million Ferris wheel in 1991. The ride peeked just above the building鈥檚 roof, offering gondola riders a skylight view of Cleveland.

The wheel became the centerpiece of the annual I-X Indoor Amusement Park, and the park鈥檚 jingle made itself a fixture in local TV ads.

Cleveland bought the I-X Center for $66.5 million from Park Corp. in 1999, with plans to demolish the building one day to make room for a Hopkins runway expansion. Brook Park, where the center was located, tried to seize it through eminent domain. 

The moves escalated a long-running feud between Cleveland and Brook Park, pitting the two cities鈥� headstrong mayors at the time 鈥� Mike White and Tom Coyne 鈥� against one another in a fight the Plain Dealer dubbed the 鈥淕unfight at I-X Corral.鈥�

After years of wrangling and some $11 million in legal bills, White and Coyne sealed a truce with a hug in 2001. Cleveland claimed the I-X Center and ceded NASA Glenn Research Center to Brook Park in a land-swap and tax-sharing deal.

Rally-goers await President Donald Trump at a campaign event in November 2018 at the I-X Center. [Nick Castele / ideastream]

The I-X Center has been home to many major annual events, such as the Cleveland Boat Show and the Great Big Home + Garden Show. With ample room for crowds, it has also hosted several Republican political rallies with national candidates, drawing Mitt Romney in 2012 and Donald Trump in 2016 and 2018.

COVID-19 left a dent in the center鈥檚 calendar this year, leading to the cancellation of the spring鈥檚 I-X Indoor Amusement Park.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the amusement park鈥檚 website still invited fans to return next year: Splashed across the page were the words 鈥淪ee you in 2021.鈥�