Though things aren't perfect with the BMO expansion, once it's finished and the entrance to 17th is finished we will be miles ahead of where we were with the old exhibition centre and the look and feel of Stampede Park and its integration to the Beltline. The blocks along 17th leading into the grounds will improve quickly and my prediction is it will become an 'un-official' Stampede Trail'. The building is big, but IMO the various cures and roof sloping on the east side has kept it from being really imposing.
I've been to a few convention centres. Winnipeg convention centre, which is a smaller one, and three larger ones (NRG Houston, Las Vegas, and Orange County) The latter three are very large and have an imposing feeling. I like prefer the look of ours to any of the ones I've been to, and I think it'll fit in nicely.