Centro de Convenciones de Ponce
| Complejo Ferial de Puerto Rico | |
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Complejo Ferial de Puerto Rico, also known as Centro de Convenciones de Ponce (Ponce Convention Center)
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| Address | PR-52 and PR-12 at Avenida Rafael Churumba Santiago |
| Location | Ponce, Puerto Rico |
| Coordinates | 18°0′28.15″N 66°36′22.75″W / 18.0078194°N 66.6063194°W |
| Owner | Government of the Autonomous Municipality of Ponce |
| Operator | Intertrade Development Group |
| Built | 2008-2012 |
| Inaugurated | 11 October 2012 |
| Opened | June 2012 |
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Construction cost
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$43.7 million |
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Former names
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Centro de Convenciones de Ponce |
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Classroom-style seating
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3,000 |
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Meeting-room seating
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3,000 |
| Banquet/ballroom | 3,000 |
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Theatre seating
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3,000 |
| Enclosed space | |
| • Total space | 120,000 square feet (11,000 m2) |
| • Exhibit hall floor | 120,000 square feet (11,000 m2) |
| • Breakout/meeting | 16 |
| • Ballroom | 1-16 (convertible) |
| Website | |
| www |
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Complejo Ferial de Puerto Rico, a.k.a. Centro de Convenciones de Ponce, Centro de Convenciones de Ponce Juan H. Cintrón, and Complejo Ferial de Puerto Rico Juan H. Cintrón Garcia, is a 3,000-seat indoor arena and convention center in Ponce, Puerto Rico. It is intended to be used primarily for trade shows, conventions and sporting events. It opened in June, 2012. One of the first pre-inauguration activities was a set of Olympic boxing pre-match games. Its official inauguration was subsequently set for September 2012. However, its official inauguration took place on 11 October 2012.
The center was built to serve the local as well as the international business market. The Centro de Convenciones de Ponce was named after former Ponce Mayor Juan H. Cintrón García. Centro de Convenciones de Ponce is unique among other convention centers in Puerto Rico for the flexibility of its interior spaces. It is owned by the Autonomous Municipality of Ponce.
Construction of the structure started on 20 October 2008, under the administration of Mayor Francisco Zayas Seijo. The building design was commissioned to architect Fernando Gonzalez Diaz and his architectural firm Urban Venture Group. Urban Venture Group with their consultants; Pedro Dario Del Nero (structural engineer), Jorge Ledón Webster (mechanical engineer), Ricardo Rodriguez Del Valle (electrical engineer), Alfred J. Longhitano (codes) and Manuel Quilichini (civil engineer), formed the team that developed the Architecture and Interior design of "Complejo Ferial de Puerto Rico". The structure was built by local Ponce construction company Venegas Construction. It was ordered by the Autonomous Municipality of Ponce at a cost of $41 million USD, excluding its access roads and parking lot. These engaged an additional $3.9 million. Some 400 workmen labored in the construction of the structure.
The Center is managed by a public municipal corporation independent of the Municipal Government but which reports to it. The corporation is headed by a five-member governing board. According to current by-laws of the municipality, one of the members of the governing body must be the municipal finance director, and the other four members are appointed by the mayor. The primary objective in creating a municipal corporation for the management and administration of Centro de Convenciones is "to exempt it from being bound by the bureocracy required by the Law of Autonomous Municipalities" One of the obligations of the new corporation is to sign a long-term contract with an operator for the administration and day-to-day operation of the Center. Various companies were mentioned as potential managers and interested parties, including SMG Worldwide Entertainment and Convention Venue Management, Intertrade Development Group, and Grupo Serralles, owners of the Ponce Hilton Resort and Casino. In the end, Intertrade Development Group was chosen as the operator.
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