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| View from 17th Street bridge: Hotel rising at Convention Center |
By Jane Feehan
The convention center first opened in 1991 and currently offers
600,000 square feet of meeting and other space. The $1.3 billion expansion,
expected to open late 2025, will increase meeting capacity to 1,200,000* square
feet. Project plans include a larger waterfront plaza with restaurants, an amphitheater,
additional water taxi service, and a new bypass road from Federal Highway.
Its 29-story hotel – Omni Fort Lauderdale—with 800 rooms will be the area landmark instead of Pier 66, which rises 17 stories and has been the local eyecatcher since 1965-66. The convention center is expected to bring 1,000 new jobs, increased tax revenue, and visitor traffic and their business to the area.
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| Massive hotel, lots of parking |
About that traffic: an area impact statement says the completed expansion will decrease traffic because convention programming will "attract larger, international shows that draw a fly-in audience, rather than regional conferences which typically bring in more vehicles," thus relieving congestion on 17th Street.
Also mentioned in the project description are plans to promote community-based events with outdoor entertainment, more restaurants and…expanded parking for these additional local happenings. This seems to present a contradiction in traffic expectations. Not all locals will use the bypass road. If so, what about Federal Highway congestion? Local events bring in more local vehicles, something the planners say they will avoid with fly-in visitors. Let's hope these fly-in visitors don't rent cars.
Larger conventions and additional local entertainment, yet improvement in Fort Lauderdale’s traffic congestion. It's a puzzle.
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Note: The largest convention center in the U.S. is McCormick
Place in Chicago with 2.6 million square feet. The Miami Beach Convention
Center offers 1,400,000 square feet of convention space.
Sources:
Broward.org
Wikipedia
Miami Beach
