Obama team picks venue for election night event

Chicago's McCormick Place is billed as country's largest convention center

Author: By Kevin Bohn CNN Senior Producer
Published On: Oct 17 2012 05:18:20 PM PDT   Updated On: Oct 17 2012 06:26:07 PM PDT
Obama gives DNC speech
(CNN) -

The Obama campaign plans to have its election night event at McCormick Place in Chicago barring a last minute change, a campaign source confirmed to CNN on Wednesday.

Billed as the largest convention center in the country, the venue consists of four buildings with a combined total of 2.6 million square feet of exhibit space.

While it's a large venue, the indoor facility would likely not be able to hold as many people as Grant Park, the outdoor site of Obama's election night event in 2008.

The website for McCormick Place says it can seat up to 18,000 people, whereas Grant Park held 240,000 people four years ago.

With Election Day on November 6, holding the event inside could also be an advantage in the case of inclement weather.

The president's re-election campaign headquarters are located in Chicago.

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