Tuesday, August 18, 2015, Mandalay Bay announced their updated and expanded convention center is open and will host new and existing shows. The Las Vegas, Nevada convention center has increased by 350,000 square feet to make the entire center 2 million square feet. It had a soft opening Monday August 17, 2015 for the start of the Magic Fashion Trade Show (Men’s Apparel Guild in California). The expansion has included a 70,000 square foot ballroom that can divide into five sections for corporate groups and ballroom dancing. MGM Resorts also added more bandwidth to their Wi-Fi technology to make it more convenient for trade shows, tour groups, and business groups using the space.
To fit the increased visitor count Mandalay Bay expects 900 parking spaces were added to an underground lot. In the fall Mandalay Bay will have their new 8 acre solar photovoltaic array up and running. It is going to add to the 20 acre spread already in place.
The solar array is the largest in the world to be atop a convention center. It is able to produce 3.4 million kilowatt hours per annum. The power equivalent is 1,300 homes.
Mandalay Bay started the expansion in October 2014, after making the decision to build and upgrade the facility in April 2014. Mandalay Bay wants to keep bringing in new and old vendors in order to keep Las Vegas in the competition for national convention centers. The upgrades have increased its rankings from 5th to 3rd in Las Vegas in terms of size, with Las Vegas Convention Center in second and Sands Expo and Convention Center in first. For national ratings, Mandalay Bay is in 5th up from 11th place. All three Las Vegas convention Centers trail Chicago’s McCormick Place and Orlando’s Orange County Convention Center.
The spokesperson for Mandalay Bay said they are happy to announce the expansion is complete and are welcoming new and existing vendors.