The Miami Beach Convention Center has suspended all events for the foreseeable future as its halls are converted for use as a field hospital during the coronavirus epidemic.
The 1.4 million-square-foot center expects to be open as a 450-bed emergency center as soon as April 21.
The conversion is being handled by Alabama construction firm Robins & Morton, which won a $22.5 million contract from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to do the work. It will be the first field hospital the Army Corps has built in Florida.
In a statement, the Corps said that in an emergency it is "the federal government's lead public works and engineering support agency," and given its extensive work in building medical facilities for its military stakeholders is uniquely qualified to tackle the engineering challenge.
Miami Beach commissioner Mark Samuelian said the convention center would be used as a coronavirus hospital only if it is required and that proper medical and security protocols would be in place to protect the community.
The second-largest convention center in Florida, the Miami Beach facility recently finished a 3-year, $620 million renovation and was prepped to welcome back convention business in 2020 that went elsewhere during the construction.