SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) - The $276 million Savannah Convention Center expansion is now complete and ready for the public.
The expansion doubles the center's size to 660,000-square-feet and allows Savannah to compete with bigger cities like Nashville and Tampa.
Kelvin Moore/senior vice president, savannah convention center: "It elevates our place in the industry from where we were ranked in the 170s as far as total square footage. We're now in the mid 70s," Kelvin Moore, Senior Vice President of the Savannah Convention Center, said.
The expansion includes a 200,000-square-foot exhibit room, an expanded 40,000-square-foot ballroom that fits up to 5700 people, 14 additional ballrooms, boardrooms, a parking garage, and a panoramic view of the Savannah River and Historic District.
"Think about all the nonprofit organizations in town that are going to be doing dinners and banquets and events here," Visit Savannah President and CEO Joe Marinelli said. "You think about things like the boat show and Comic-Con and things like that that are public shows that people want to go to."
The interior design reflects Savannah with lights that symbolize Spanish moss and bricks that look like the containers on ships in the river.
"The thing about it is that not only is it great space for people visiting here to enjoy, but it's also a great space for locals to be able to enjoy for a variety of things," Mayor Van Johnson said.
"It gives us the space now that we could do more than one venue, more than one time," Chairman Chester Ellis said.
This project was decades in the making. Leaders say it's an investment in the local workforce and economy.
"It means more jobs at the hotels, at the restaurants, at the trolley companies and so forth," Marinelli said. "Savannah and Chatham County really have something special going on right now. And and so we as locals have to embrace that, right? It's not the Savannah that we once knew, but it's the beginning of the Savannah that it will become."
There are two more phases to this expansion. Three ferries that will take people to and from the island and a new hotel is on the way. Officials are still discussing the plans and what brand the hotel will be.
The first event in the expanded venue is happening Saturday, February 15; a volleyball tournament called the Savannah Showdown.