Convention Center Delay Stalls 2 Events : Groups Must Reschedule, but Nov. 24 Opening Is Still On

Additional delays at the convention center will force two local groups to cancel or postpone meetings at the waterfront site during early November, San Diego Convention Center Corp. officials said Tuesday.

The meetings, planned by the San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau and the San Diego County Restaurant Assn., were scheduled for early November. They will be postponed or held elsewhere because the convention center won’t receive a temporary occupancy permit until at least Nov. 15, two weeks later than had been expected.

The most recent delay, however, is not expected to affect grand-opening ceremonies scheduled for Nov. 24, convention center spokeswoman Donna Alm said Tuesday. The center was originally scheduled to open in 1987.

Fluor Constructors, which is managing construction of the building for the Port District, reported the delay to convention center corporation staff members Thursday. The corporation’s board members heard about the delay during a regularly scheduled board meeting Tuesday.

Although Tutor-Saliba/Perini Corp., the building contractor, will have completed most of the center by Nov. 1, the opening will be delayed for at least two weeks while city inspectors test the center’s complicated fire-safety warning system, said Billy Crockett, project manager for Fluor.

In a letter delivered last week, a Tutor-Saliba/Perini executive “said that he’d reviewed everything that had to be done and that, in his professional opinion, we could not get a temporary certificate of occupancy” until Nov. 17, Crockett said.

“I’ve got to agree with him,” Crockett said. “The (port) district obviously wants to get this thing done but . . . you simply can’t compress certain (timetables), and there are only so many skilled workers available to do this work.”

“The 17th is the best date we can come up with,” Crockett said Tuesday. “There’s no way that spending money on overtime will help to get it done early.”

The delay means that the two local organizations “obviously can’t have” their events at the convention center unless they are postponed until December, Crockett said.

“That’s my interpretation, too,” said ConVis spokesman Al Reese, whose organization had planned to hold its annual meeting and fall trade show at the new center. “We’re now looking for another date or for another venue,” said Reese, who learned about the newest opening delay Tuesday.

The convention center corporation is trying to reschedule the ConVis and restaurant association meetings, Alm said. “We’re trying to find different dates in December,” Alm said.

Although the opening delay will adversely affect the two local groups, it evidently will not stall a planned three-day grand opening celebration scheduled to begin Nov. 24. “We’re hoping that as many as 160,000 people will attend that,” Alm said.

The convention center corporation could conceivably reschedule the ConVis and restaurant meetings for the week beginning Nov. 20, but, besides butting up against the grand opening, that is Thanksgiving week. “That would be a pretty heavy burden to place on a brand new staff,” Alm said.

Crockett said the Fire Department will spend an estimated two weeks at the center beginning Nov. 1. During that time, crews will test the center’s computer-operated fire protection system. “They have to see if all the smoke detectors pick up smoke, see if the alarm system goes off, make sure that exhaust fans come on,” Crockett said. “They have to make sure the elevators (operate) properly and that roll-up doors close like they’re supposed to.

“I can’t get the building to the point where the Fire Department can check it out until the first of November,” Crockett said. “You have to make sure the building is safe before it’s opened.”

Even after the temporary occupancy permit is issued, the center won’t be complete: Crews will continue to work on stairways, an amphitheater and some nearby roadways.

Crews also will be working on an area underneath a tent-like structure. “When I take over the building, the tent area will not be ready,” Crockett said. “That will come on stream later on.”