It seems like Orlando’s Orange County Convention Center has been undergoing constant renovations and expansions for years now—and there’s a lot more to come, as reported by Richard Bilbao of Orlando Business Journal.
The latest plans were revealed at the September 25 meeting of the International Drive Steering Committee meeting, and include new event spaces, reimagining of current spaces, easier access to spaces and additional parking.
Specific ideas that were discussed relation to expansion include a 130,000-square-foot multipurpose hall at the Orange County Convention Center’s north/south building. This space could be used for sporting events, medical conferences and more. Concourses in the north/south building would also get connector spaces to make for easier access between the various spaces inside the building.
There are plans for an activity hub adjacent to the main entrance of the west building, which would serve as space for small banquet-style events. This would also include outdoor seating and cafe space for attendees and the general public.
There was also talk of an unspecified unique space on currently unused real estate by the west concourse. This space would be designed for high-end events, such as black-tie cocktail parties.
As for other renovations, the committee spoke of renovating the 2,643-seat Chapin theater, a plan that would pull up the fixed seating and turn the room into a more flexible event space that could be used as a ballroom and for other types of events.
According to the committee, there are also plans for a new parking garage with 1,500 spaces, which would be attached to the west concourse and cover the loading docks at the rear of the facility.
Clara Bell Johnson, strategic and development manager at the Orange County Convention Center, indicated that budget, priority and rollout for the new projects have not yet been determined, but will be discussed when a study on the plans is completed next month. Johnson also said that the new projects would take 20 years to complete.
