OKC To Cut Ribbon On New $288M Convention Center

Oklahoma City will be cutting the ribbon on the largest MAPS project in city history. 

Every Oklahoma City mayor from the 1980s to now will be there at 4 p.m. on Thursday for the Convention Center's grand opening. They will also be dedicating a nearby street to former Mayor Mick Cornett.

Maps projects have been changing the landscape of Oklahoma City for nearly 30 years.

The $288 million convention center will make history today as the largest MAPS project in city history.

As part of MAPS 3, it was funded by a 1 cent sales tax that started in 2010 and ended in 2017.

The new convention center is going to have a lot of space including a 200,000 plus square-foot exhibit hall, a 30,000 square-foot ballroom and a $1.5 million public art piece called Virtual Sky

Mayor David Holt said having a convention center of this size takes Oklahoma City to the next level.

"That's what makes it special, the building puts us in the game," he said. "A game that we really hadn't been in. We really deserved a convention center that was commensurate with the size of the city that we've had."

For anyone interested in touring the building, they can sign up for a self-guided tour by Clicking Here.

 Thursday's ribbon-cutting will be a private event.