Samiksha Jaiswal (Editor)

Tampa Convention Center

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Location
  
Tampa, Florida

Built
  
1989-90

Website
  
Official website

Phone
  
+1 813-274-8511

Owner
  
City of Tampa

Construction cost
  
$140-million

Opened
  
October 1990

Public transit access
  
Dick Greco Plaza

Tampa Convention Center

Address
  
333 S Franklin St, Tampa, FL 33602, USA

Similar
  
Florida Aquarium, Amalie Arena, David A Straz Jr Center for, Tampa Bay History Center, Lowry Park Zoo

Profiles

Tampa convention center s promotional video


The Tampa Convention Center is a mid-sized convention center located in downtown Tampa, Florida at the mouth of the Hillsborough River. It has both waterfront views of Tampa Bay and views of the city's skyline. Harbour Island is across the eponymous bridge on the other side of the Garrison Channel. The center is connected to the neighboring Channelside District and Ybor City via the TECO Streetcar Line, which has a station across the street. The center opened in 1990 and encompasses 600,000 square feet (56,000 m2) in total. It has a 200,000 square feet (19,000 m2) exhibit hall, a ballroom capable of accommodating over 2,000 guests, and 36 meeting rooms that can be adjusted to various sizes.The facility hosts over 300 events per year.

Contents

Embassy suites downtown tampa convention center


History

The Tampa Convention Center is built on the historical site of Fort Brooke, the original American outpost on Tampa Bay established in 1824. The community of Tampa slowly grew around Fort Brooke through two wars with the Seminole Indians and the American Civil War. The post was decommissioned by the United States Army in 1883 and the land was sold for private use.

The former location of the fort was used for various industrial and commercial purposes until the late 1980s, when it was cleared to make way for a new convention center to replace Tampa's aging Curtis Hixon Hall. Construction began in early 1989, with the city of Tampa paying the $140 million cost by issuing municipal bonds. It opened in October 1990.

Hotels

The city's original development plan called for the Tampa Convention Center to be built concurrently with a large hotel. However, financial difficulties and problems with developers caused this portion of the plan to be delayed until 2000, when the 27-story Tampa Marriott Waterside Hotel, the city's largest, opened less than a block away on Garrison Channel. In 2006, more adjacent lodging was added when a 20-story Embassy Suites hotel opened directly across Franklin Street from the convention center. The newer hotel is connected to the convention center via a skybridge.

Major events

The Tampa Convention Center was the media center for the 2012 Republican National Convention, which was held approximately two blocks away at the Tampa Bay Times Forum.

It hosts the yearly anime convention MetroCon, as well as the Florida Bar Exam.

References

Tampa Convention Center Wikipedia