The Broward County Convention Center and the new Omni Fort Lauderdale Hotel celebrated a construction milestone on Wednesday, marking a leap towards the 2025 opening of these waterfront behemoths. In a ritual known as "topping out," more than 400 construction workers and local dignitaries watched the final steel beams ascend, crowning both the convention's East Expansion and the upcoming 29-story hotel, as reported by Broward County's news release.
At this public celebration, Broward County Mayor Nan Rich declared, "This is the beginning of a legacy. These projects stand as a testament to the dedication of those of us here today and to those who came before us," he said, "This hotel and convention center will be a source of pride in our community, I believe it is a true example of the power of collaboration as we work together to achieve more," in words lifted directly from the county news release. The ceremony was the collaboration that propelled the $1 billion projects into their final construction phases while dancing around the hubbub of an operational convention center and active port terminals. The large-scale construction project has required a sort of choreographed balancing act.
The East Expansion at the convention center spans a mammoth 400,000 square feet and is coupled with the Omni Hotel, which flaunts not just rooms but also 120,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor meeting space, as per Hotel News Resource. As lauded by Scott Skidelsky, president of Balfour Beatty's Southeast operations," From topping out two buildings today to successfully completing the project's West Expansion phase on-time and under budget last Fall, these achievements are a true testament to our team's diligent work, collaboration and ongoing commitment to excellence. We are honored to celebrate our teammates' success and look forward to continued progress on the project."
Monica Cepero, Broward County Administrator, extolled the project's potential, saying it will bring new opportunities, create thousands of jobs, add to our quality of life, and bring a source of new revenue to enhance the successes of our economic engines, as the county news release elucidated.
The convention center's East Expansion and Omni Hotel are expected to be fully operational by late 2025.
