New Miami Beach Convention Center Plans To Be Unveiled
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- The new look for the Miami Beach Convention Center is set to be unveiled later this week.
The plan and design for the $615 million project will be shown at a ceremony on Thursday inside the center itself.
Miami Beach City Manager Jimmy Morales, Mayor Philip Levine and Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez will be among those in attendance.
The nearly 60-year old convention center will be turned into a state-of-the-art facility meant to attract new events.
Denver-based Fentress Architects, in collaboration with local firm Arquitectonica and the Dutch landscape firm of West 8 came up with the designs for the convention center's "facelift."
The new design is said to have a strong emphasis on ocean elements and be more nature friendly. The concept will have a lot more natural lighting for the inside of the center, using an estimated 20 percent less energy.
The renovation is also expected to generate $2.5 billion over the next 30 years, according to city officials.
And it won't be long until we see the plans come to fruition. The project will start as scheduled in December 2015, right after Art Basel Miami Beach.
Once completed, visitors can expect to enjoy 505,000 square feet of exhibit space, a 60,000 square foot grand ballroom, three 20,000 square feet junior ballrooms, 59,000 square feet of breakout meeting spaces, 806 on-site rooftop parking spaces and an additional 12 acres of surrounding parks and landscaped areas.
