The Huntsville grotto would like to propose to host the 2005 NSS Convention during the first week of July in Huntsville Alabama (July 4 - July 8)
Huntsville is a large city located between the Tenneesse river and the last of the Appalachians
It is home to The National Speleological Society and to Redsone Arsenal, Marshall Space Flight Center, and the Alabama Space and Rocket Center. There are about 4000 known caves with a 70 mile radius.
Facilities
Sessions
The sessions will be in a new High School in Huntsville still under construction scheduled for completion by September 2004. This school is being built adjacent to the old one which is scheduled to be torn down upon completion of the new one. Both are air conditioned facilities..
Vertical
The vertical sessions and workshops will be held in one of the two gymnasiums in the new school, both are air conditioned.
Registration.
The school will be for day use only and registration will be at the Campground.
Photo Salon
The Photo Salon will be in the 2100 seat Von Braun Center Concert Hall
www.vonbrauncenter.com
Banquet
The banquet will be at the Von Braun Center South Hall. It can seat 2100 at round tables and there are 500 parking spaces underneath. The food will be catered by the Civic Center.
They do all set up and tear down.
www.vonbrauncenter.com
Exhibition Areas
There should be plenty of space for cartography and salons.
Accomodations
Camping / Hotels
We will be camping at the John Hunt fairgrounds, which is about 3 miles from the High School.
It is a 42 acre fenced park with about half grass and half pavement. It is within the Huntsville City limits. There are no homes within a mile of the fairgrounds and it adjoins our Professional Baseball stadium. There are about 20 motels/Hotels within a 10 mile radius with prices from $40 to $100 a night . There are a large number of restauraunts within a mile of the campground. There are 6 flush toilets and two 4 headed group showers on the property. We will bring in Portapotties and two shower trucks to bring the showers up to 20 each. We will have the one large airconditioned building at the fairgrounds to use for registration and the Auction and other things. There is an existing stage of 320 square feet we will use for the bands. There is no shade, However we will set up at least 2 large tents for rain protection and shade.. There is water and electrical power scattered across the campground. We will have 24 hour security at the gate to the camping area. There are also 3 commerical campgrounds within a 7 mile radius that provide RV hookups..
Transporation
We will have buses or vans between the campground and the sessions and buses to the Photo Salon and the Banquet which is about 6 miles away at the Civic Center.
Air
Huntsvillle is served by Huntsville International Airport (HSV) with American, Delta, Northwest, US Airways and Continental..
Bus
There is a Greyhound bus Station in downtown Huntsville.
Rental Cars
We have Avis, Hertz, Enterprise, Budget, Thrifty, Alamo, National and others in Huntsville.
Cars
Huntsville is located 15 miles from Interstate 65 with Spur 565 passing through Huntsville.
Huntville is about 100 miles from Chattanoga TN, Birmingham AL and Nashville TN, and 200 miles from Atlanta GA.
Other
Weather
The average temperature for July in Huntsville is 80 degrees with an average high of 90 and average low of 69. The average rainfall is 4.6 inches for the month.
Caving / Environmental Impact
There are 4000 caves within 70 miles of Huntsville; we will control what we put in the guidebook to attempt to limit visitation. Russell Cave National Monument is about 70 miles away. Cathedral Caverns State park is about 20 miles away and runs tours during daylight hours. Sauta Cave has an impressive bat flight during the summer and is only about 30 miles away. Monte Sano State Park is adjacent to the Huntsville City Limits and has a dozen or so caves.. SCCi will schedule all trips to SCCi caves to give minimum impact on its properties..
Huntsville Convention Staff
Chair Jim Hall Nss10997
Vice Chair Chuch Lundquist Nss3251
Exec Secretary Lance Hoppenwasser Nss47932
Treasuer Roger Haley Nss29236
Publications Julie Schenck Nss30493
Publicity Eric Johnston Nss44639
Facilities Bruce Wallace Nss27563
Registration* open (pre-registeration = John Stembel Nss25837)
Programs* open
Information Technology Eric Peterson Nss49340
*We have not obtained commitments for two of the above positions but we will before the
2004 Convention.
Jim Hall