After being closed for more than a year following Hurricane Florence, New Bern’s Riverfront Convention Center is scheduled to reopen for events next week, according to Amber Parker, Craven County human resources director.

Tuesday morning workers were busy both inside and outside the Riverfront Convention Center, power washing windows, installing new carpet, and wiring light fixtures in advance of the planned October 15 opening. In addition to the work necessary to repair flood damage to the first floor, the building is also undergoing an interior facelift with updated features and color schemes as part of the $12.8 million project.

“The goal for October 15 is to have the downstairs open for events,” said Parker. “But the contractors will still do work to improve the Convention Center after that. It’s going to be the same Convention Center but it will look new.”

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Parker said the building’s HVAC and electrical system have undergone significant work and the drywall and electrical floor boxes have been replaced. She noted that a number of changes, such as switching out the carpet and wood paneling for tiles, were made to make the Convention Center more water-resistant in the face of future severe weather events.

“All the carpet is in tiles so should we be expecting something major we could actually comes in here, pick up all the tiles to save them and then put them back down,” explained Parker.

Other upgrades will include digital signage that will be added outside of the Convention Center ballroom, which will feature new, 3D entrances in place of the former flat doorways, said Parker. The renovated Convention Center will also have a new reception area where the administrative office was opened up to create a usable space for event hosts, she noted.

Parker said a second phase of work will include an expansion of the Convention Center’s outdoor veranda. She said plans also call for the ballroom to be opened up to allow for a better view of the river.

According to Parker, the Convention Center already has a number of event bookings lined up, including military balls, the Twin Rivers Quilt Show, the Holiday Show, a retirement party and an employee service award event.

Discussing the impact the ongoing closure of the adjacent DoubleTree Hilton may have on Convention Center bookings, Parker commented “The main effect is going to be when you have a large conference over multiple days you need to make sure you have hotel rooms and of course having those in close proximity is a huge benefit, but we do still have hotel rooms in other parts of New Bern.”

Parker said the recent naming of Tarshi McCoy as the new director of the Riverfront Convention Center will help bolster its reputation as a destination for large-scale events. McCoy formerly worked for nine-year as the Convention Center’s tourism and sales service executive.

“The Convention Center has shifted more from having a tourism focus and a visitor focus to being a convention center,” said Parker. “Since it has been down for over a year we need to get our share of the market back, so having someone experienced in the sales aspect is really important to get our bookings back.”

The Convention Center received significant water damage on its first floor from storm surge and rain that poured in through a broken window. Remediation began immediately after the storm, with the removal of the building’s first floor carpets, furniture and wall coverings and the stripping of sheetrock up to four feet to avoid mold growth.

The unforeseen repair project has also allowed the county to address the Convention Center’s long-standing floor settlement issues earlier than anticipated.

Since September 2018, a number of micropiles have been driven into the building’s subsurface to help stabilize the foundation. Additionally, a set of helical piers were added where gaps had formed between the foundation slab and major supporting walls. A method known as urethane grouting was also used to fill in voids underneath the foundation to help level the floor.