For the Mississippi Coast Coliseum & Convention Center in Biloxi, Miss., it's better late than never, as the facility has completed a $118 million expansion and renovation that was supposed to be finished in 2007, but was derailed in 2005 by Hurricane Katrina, local newspaper The Sun Herald reported this month.
In an Aug. 15 ribbon-cutting ceremony, state officials — including Gov. Haley Barbour and Sen. Thad Cochran — dedicated the expansion, which includes 220,000 square feet of new meeting space that brings the convention center's total to 400,000, positioning Biloxi to compete for conventions with destinations such as New Orleans, Atlanta, Tampa and Birmingham.
"Now, we're in a position to appeal to 85 percent of the businesses out there," Executive Director Bill Holmes said, according to the Associated Press.
When it opened in 1976, the Mississippi Coast Coliseum & Convention Center was just 100,000 square feet. Another 80,000 square feet was added in 1997 and in 2004, local voters agreed to more than double the facility's size. When Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast in 2005, however, the project was put on hold, as the storm forced the convention center to cease operations for more than a year. It reopened for roughly half of 2007 before closing again, then began hosting groups again in 2008 while work commenced on the remodeling and expansion.
In addition to the new meeting space, the building's older space has been updated with new audio/visual systems, signage and high-speed Internet. The facility's coliseum component, meanwhile — one of the Gulf Coast's most significant concert venues — has been upgraded with 9,200 new permanent seats, as well as new dressing rooms, administrative offices, lobby ceilings, doors and windows.
Although parts of the expansion were unveiled last summer, this month's ribbon-cutting represents the official end of the road, according to Holmes. "By hosting the ribbon-cutting, it symbolizes to the public and the nation's meeting planners that we are completely done and ready for their conferences, meetings and trade shows," he told The Sun Herald.