The Dr. Pedro Rosselló González Puerto Rico Convention Center (PRCC) (or ''Centro de Convenciones de Puerto Rico Dr. Pedro Rosselló González'' in Spanish), or simply Puerto Rico Convention Center, is a

convention center A convention center (American English; or conference centre in British English) is a large building that is designed to hold a convention, where individuals and groups gather to promote and share common interests. Convention centers typica ...

located in

Isla Grande Isla Grande is a small island and corregimiento in Portobelo District, Colón Province, Panama, off the Caribbean coast. It had a population of 1,037 . Its population as of 1990 was 626; its population as of 2000 was 1,055. During the right time ...

(recently named the Convention Center District), in

San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan (, , ; Spanish for "Saint John") is the capital city and most populous municipality in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2020 census, it is the 57th-largest city under the jur ...

owned by the Puerto Rico Convention Center District Authority, a government agency of Puerto Rico, and managed by ASM Globa

With a total space of 600,000-square-foot (55,742 m

and designed by

tvsdesign TVS is an architecture, planning, and interior design firm in Atlanta. History Founded in 1968 by Bill Thompson, Tom Ventulett, and Ray Stainback, tvsdesign has designed several notable buildings in greater Atlanta and beyond throughout the yea ...

, it is the largest convention center in the Caribbean and one of the most technologically advanced in the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with t ...

. The Convention Center includes a Exhibition Hall that can seat up to 16,965 people and a ballroom that can accommodate up to 4,158 people. All in all, approximately 30,000 people can be accommodated within the center simultaneously and can handle conventions of organizations as large as 10,000 participants. The current PRCC general manager is Jorge Pérez. The center is operated by the Puerto Rico Convention Center District Authority, which also operates the

José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum The Coliseo de Puerto Rico José Miguel Agrelot (English: ''José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum of Puerto Rico'') is the biggest indoor arena in Puerto Rico dedicated to entertainment. It is located at the Golden Mile of San Juan, the island capita ...

, also known as the "Choliseo", and the Government Reception Center, known as the Antiguo Casino de Puerto Rico, in Old San Juan, as well as the 113-acre district on which the Convention Center and the attached Sheraton hotel are located. Its current executive director is Omar Marrero. The convention center is named after former Governor Pedro Rosselló, who proposed and initiated the design, finance and construction of the structure. After the hit from

Hurricane Maria Hurricane Maria was a deadly Category 5 hurricane that devastated the northeastern Caribbean in September 2017, particularly Dominica, Saint Croix, and Puerto Rico. It is regarded as the worst natural disaster in recorded history to affect t ...

during the

2017 Atlantic hurricane season The 2017 Atlantic hurricane season was a disastrous, extremely active Atlantic hurricane season and the costliest on record, with a damage total of at least $294.92 billion (USD). The season featured 17 named storms, 10 hurricanes, and 6 major h ...

, events at the Puerto Rico Convention Center were cancelled from mid-September through the end of the year while the facility was used as a warehouse and collection center by the Puerto Rican Government to provide food, water and basic necessities to those affected by the deadliest and costliest hurricane in Puerto Rican history. The Convention Center re-opened in early 2018 and has been hosting a wide range of events since. Numerous improvements have been made around the convention center area as well, which offers hotels, restaurants, casinos and other amenities.

History

1994 - Governor Rosselló and Puerto Rico Tourism Company Executive Director

Luis Fortuño Luis Guillermo Fortuño Burset (born 31 October 1960) is a Puerto Rican politician who served as the governor of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States, from 2009 to 2013. Fortuño served as the first secretary of econo ...

announce the development of the Golden Triangle Project to be located in the Miramar section of Santurce, the old Isla Grande naval station and the Puerta de Tierra section of San Juan. 1996 - Design of new Convention Center commences 1997 - Three-year long relocation and razing of state government facilities at old Isla Grande naval station begins 2000 - Groundbreaking ceremony held and construction begins 2001 - Puerto Rico Convention Center District Authority begins operations 2005 - Gov. Aníbal Acevedo Vilá inaugurates Convention Center 2009 - Convention Center achieves 1.5 million visitors in 1,500 Events 2009 - Sheraton's anchor Hotel at the Convention District initiates operations 2010 - Gov.

signs law naming center after his predecessor, Gov. Rosselló, and approves plan for District Live, an entertainment complex next to the center. 2015 - The PRCC celebrates its tenth anniversary and 4.7 million visitors. 2021 - Gov.

Pedro Pierluisi Pedro Rafael Pierluisi Urrutia (born April 26, 1959) is a Puerto Rican politician and lawyer currently serving as governor of Puerto Rico. He has previously served as Secretary of Justice, Resident Commissioner, acting Secretary of State, i ...

inaugurates Distrito T-Mobile.

Planning and construction

The Convention Center's design was inspired by the ocean. It has a signature roof imitating a wave, and the ocean theme continues throughout the facility, including details like its custom designed carpets and door pulls.

Location

The PRCC is located in the San Juan peninsula known as the

in what used to be a US Naval Base in Isla Grande. The PRCC is located next to the Isla Grande Airport and

Port of San Juan The Port of San Juan ( es, Puerto de San Juan) is a seaport facility located in the metropolitan area of San Juan, Puerto Rico. The "Port of San Juan" is the general name used to call various passenger and cargo facilities located in lands aro ...

Pan American Pier.

The PRCC District

The PRCC is part of a planned (master-planned by

Sasaki Associates Sasaki is a design firm specializing in Architecture, Interior Design, Urban Design, Space Planning, Landscape Architecture, Ecology, Civil Engineering, and Place Branding. The firm is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, but practices on an i ...

). The main project is the Aloft hotel with 177 rooms, and a music hall which can seat 6,000 visitors, as well as a Caribbean Cinemas. The Puerto Rican government selected

Starwood Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Inc. was one of the largest companies that owned, operated, franchised and managed hotels, resorts, spas, residences, and vacation ownership properties. It was acquired by Marriott International in 2016. ...

, under its Sheraton flag, to operate the reported $209 million facility, known as the Sheraton Puerto Rico Hotel & Casino. With these two hotels and others in the area, the district now has 1,762 hotel rooms available for visitors. In recent years a number of projects have been under construction, including several restaurants and bars, an entertainment event venue known as Distrito T-Mobile, a container park and the EcoExploratorio (an interactive museum and aquarium). Additionally, the Puerto Rico Film District composed by film studios and other features, including a university, is being built within the zone.

Facilities and services

The convention center is able to accommodate groups of up to 30,000 people with a total space of and of exhibit space subdivided into three halls, all on one level. The center has adjacent parking lots with a total capacity of 2,215 vehicles, although this may be increased in the future. The facility can provide

broadband In telecommunications, broadband is wide bandwidth data transmission which transports multiple signals at a wide range of frequencies and Internet traffic types, that enables messages to be sent simultaneously, used in fast internet connections. ...

and

wireless internet Wireless communication (or just wireless, when the context allows) is the transfer of information between two or more points without the use of an electrical conductor, optical fiber or other continuous guided medium for the transfer. The most ...

connectivity, video conferencing, and simultaneous language translations, among others throughout the center. All meeting rooms and ballrooms are equipped with

Ethernet Ethernet () is a family of wired computer networking technologies commonly used in local area networks (LAN), metropolitan area networks (MAN) and wide area networks (WAN). It was commercially introduced in 1980 and first standardized in 19 ...

connection and capabilities. It also has a business center which assists business guests and attendees by providing computer and typewriter rental, printing, secretarial service, copying, fax transmission and receipt, package shipping, office products, and other services. A central security office is located within the center. The center also has inhouse catering, concessions and cleaning services for any and all activities.

Gallery

PRCC 2.JPG, Convention Center PRCC Exterior View.JPG, Exterior view of the Puerto Rico Convention Center El Distrito under construction.jpeg, El Distrito under construction

References

External links

* {{Authority control Miramar (Santurce) Buildings and structures in San Juan, Puerto Rico Tourism in Puerto Rico Convention centers in Puerto Rico 2005 establishments in Puerto Rico Government-owned corporations of Puerto Rico Tourist attractions in San Juan, Puerto Rico