Place · Central Orange County

Orange County Convention Center

• Happened Aug 11, 2026 · noted Sep 1, 2026 · Ken’s film

  

  The tourism-tax task force voted the next expansion down

  On August 11, 2026, Orange County’s Tourist Development Tax Citizen Advisory Task Force voted against recommending the convention center’s next expansion phase in this funding round — one of eight proposals it turned down while advancing twelve others to the County Commission. Former county mayor Linda Chapin framed the vote as sequencing rather than rejection: complete the $560 million Grand Concourse expansion now under construction, review what it delivers, and then decide whether to fund more. The commission makes the final call.

  sourced ↗ WESH 2

• noted Aug 31, 2026 · Ken’s film

  

  The Grand Concourse is out of the ground: OCCC's $560 million expansion builds toward 2029

  The convention center's $560 million Grand Concourse expansion broke ground in mid-December 2025 — the county's newsroom dates it December 18, the OCCC's own expansion page December 17 — and construction started in early 2026, closing Convention Way from February 26. The project adds 44,000 square feet of meeting space and a 100,000-square-foot ballroom to the North-South Building, with completion in 2029 and more than 800 construction jobs on the way there.

  sourced ↗ Orange County Government Newsroom

• noted Aug 31, 2026 · Ken’s film

  

  A second expansion phase — 200,000 more square feet of exhibit space — still awaits approval

  Behind the Grand Concourse sits Phase 5B, which would add 200,000 square feet of contiguous exhibit space and push the convention center's total to 1.15 million square feet. Full design documents arrived in January 2026 and the county commission gave the current program final budget approval in March — but 5B itself is explicitly pending approval, not a done deal.

  sourced ↗ Orange County Convention Center

• Since Aug 28, 2026 · noted Aug 28, 2026

  Orlando Boat Show

  At Orange County Convention Center.

  sourced ↗ Visit Orlando

Newest · Sep 1, 2026

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