{"id":14513,"date":"2025-10-21T20:41:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-21T20:41:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/14513\/"},"modified":"2025-10-21T20:41:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T20:41:09","slug":"broward-convention-centers-expansion-is-finally-open","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/14513\/","title":{"rendered":"Broward convention center’s expansion is finally open"},"content":{"rendered":"

Broward is celebrating the opening of the county convention center\u2019s expansion \u2014 a long-awaited milestone that\u2019s expected to help boost tourism and drive some economic growth to the region.<\/p>\n

It was in 2014 when county commissioners had renewed efforts<\/a> for an expansion of the Broward County Convention Center.\u00a0Now, more than a decade later, it\u2019s finally a reality. \u201cToday is a moment to celebrate \u2014 but it\u2019s also a moment to look ahead,\u201d Broward County Mayor Beam Furr said.<\/p>\n

\"EventgoersEventgoers attend the opening of the Broward County Convention Center’s expansion on Monday, Oct. 20, 2025. (Joe Cavaretta\/South Florida Sun Sentinel)<\/p>\n

The convention center first opened its doors in 1991, hosting thousands of conferences and major events since then.<\/p>\n

Positioned on the west side of the Intracoastal Waterway just south of the 17th Street Causeway, it\u2019s located on a prime piece of real estate on the north end of Port Everglades, making it easily accessible to travelers no matter how they arrive.<\/p>\n

The \u201cEast Expansion\u201d upgrades unveiled this week include an addition of 1.2 million square feet to the existing facility, additional meeting space, a 350,000-square-foot exhibit hall, and a 65,000-square-foot ballroom.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur Convention Center East Expansion is now South Florida\u2019s premier waterfront conference center,\u201d said Broward County Administrator Monica Cepero, \u201cproviding luxury and comfort while remaining environmentally responsible.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"OfficialsOfficials cut the ribbon for the opening of the new addition to the Broward County Convention Center in Fort Lauderdale, on Monday, Oct. 20, 2025. (Joe Cavaretta\/South Florida Sun Sentinel)<\/p>\n

The convention center\u2019s expansion is among a string of improvements in the area. It joins a new bypass connector road<\/a> from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. There also is the soon-to-be opened Omni hotel project<\/a>. It\u2019s part of an effort to transform part of the tourist experience in Fort Lauderdale. The date for the Omni opening, originally expected next month, has been delayed.<\/p>\n

A news release from the county touts the expected boon to the community. \u201cCombined, these projects are expected to generate more than $450 million in annual economic impact and create more than 3,000 full- and part-time jobs in Broward County,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

Rafael Olmeda can be reached at rolmeda@sunsentinel.com<\/a> or 954-356-4457.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"ScenesScenes from the opening of the new addition to the Broward County Convention Center are shown in Fort Lauderdale, Monday, Oct. 20, 2025. (Joe Cavaretta\/South Florida Sun Sentinel)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Broward is celebrating the opening of the county convention center\u2019s expansion \u2014 a long-awaited milestone that\u2019s expected to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":14514,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[506,558,28,29,249,251,250,114,266,115,109],"class_list":["post-14513","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-lauderdale","tag-broward-county","tag-business","tag-florida","tag-florida-news","tag-fort-lauderdale","tag-fort-lauderdale-headlines","tag-fort-lauderdale-news","tag-latest-headlines","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-social"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14513","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14513"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14513\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14514"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14513"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14513"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}