Gabrielle Russon
Mayor Jerry Demings is vowing to continue investing in the Orange County Convention Center as critics argue officials are spending too much on the facilities.
“I solidly stand behind the decisions that we have made,” Demings said during the International Drive Resort Area Chamber of Commerce’s annual meeting inside the convention center.
The New York Times published a story this week questioning the money spent on convention centers as companies spend less on conferences. The Times story mentioned Orlando’s upcoming $560 million expansion.
And Orlando Sentinel columnist Scott Maxwell has been a regular critic of the Orange County Convention Center for years.
“The building is supposedly an economic driver. In reality, it’s a money pit — a rarely fully-used complex that sometimes has to bribe groups to come here by offering deep discounts or even free rentals,” Maxwell wrote last year.
But Demings Thursday argued the convention center investment creates good-paying tourism jobs, as he made his pitch in support of the convention to a friendly audience of business leaders who work at hotels, restaurants and attractions in the tourism corridor.
“There are those in our community who believe that we should not invest another dime to the Orange County Convention Center. They’re entitled to their own beliefs,” Demings said. “I just believe that we have to continue investing in an asset that produces 189 events in 2023-2024 in the immediate past fiscal year that brought in 1.7 million attendees and generated $3 billion in economic impact.”
Also at the Chamber meeting, a Universal executive revealed more about the behind-the-scenes effort to build Epic Universe, Universal’s new park that opens May 22. The Chamber honored Epic Universe with its 2024 Visionary Leadership Award.
On any given day, 10,000 workers are on-site with 10 general contractors, said Russ Dagon, a senior vice president in resort development at Universal Creative, who called the economic impact “staggering.”
The theme park is “in great shape” about six months out from its opening, Dagon said
“It’s been a journey. This is an exercise in creativity, innovation as well as perseverance,” he said as he accepted the award on behalf of the company.
