City of Fort Worth officials are overhauling the city’s decades-old convention center at a cost of over $700 million.
Two decades after its last addition, the city has begun the process of overhauling the structure and its facilities, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Phase one began in August of this year and will see the demolition of a storage annex on the structure’s eastern side, an upgrade of kitchens in the facility, and an increase in the capacity of loading docks. This phase of the program is estimated to cost $95 million and is expected to be completed by 2026, per the Star-Telegram.
Phase two of the initiative will see the convention center’s recognizable dome demolished, the construction of a new 97,000-square-foot exhibit hall space, 48,000 square feet of new meeting rooms, and the ballroom double in size.
This phase of the initiative alone would cost $606 million and start shortly after the completion of phase one.
“This phase will be funded when hospitality taxes recover to the point where they can support the issuance of debt to fund the construction,” said the city on its website.
Mattie Parker, mayor of Fort Worth, told the Star-Telegram that upgrading the facility is necessary to meet the demands of the growing visitor population.
“This is a competitive business environment, and right now we are 199,852 square feet behind even having an average total functional space, which is leading to loss of business for Fort Worth,” said Parker. “Our visitor economy supports an annual $3 billion in economic impact and keeps more than 30,000 people in jobs. We are leaving potential business on the table by not growing to meet the needs of the increased interest in the convention center.”
Andy Taft, president of Downtown Fort Worth Inc., said the city needs an “adequately sized and designed facility” to compete with other cities.
“Having an antiquated arena that sits on four city blocks of land that is used very, very infrequently is both a poor waste of land and the air above it and prevents us from hosting the number and kinds of events that we want to host in Fort Worth,” said Taft, according to the Star-Telegram. “It prevents us from adding more hotel rooms that bring more people to Fort Worth to eat in our restaurants and shop in our stores.”
The Fort Worth Convention Center, formerly known as the Tarrant County Convention Center, was originally constructed in 1968 as an urban renewal project, according to Fort Worth Architecture. The original architects were Herman E. Cox, Morris Parker, Preston M. Geren, Hueppelhueser & White, and the firm of Wilson, Patterson, Sowden, Dunlap, & Epperly.
Since its construction, the structure has seen multiple additions to the building in 1983, 2002, and 2003 and now features 253,226 square feet of exhibit space, a 28,160 square-foot ballroom, 58,849 square feet of meeting space, an area capable of seating 13,000, and much more, according to the City of Fort Worth.
The building has hosted thousands of major national and international events, according to the city, and is recognized as the “premier event space in downtown Fort Worth.”
It is currently unknown when phase two of construction will be complete.
