MIDLAND, Texas — It's been well over a month since a water main busted in the Bush Convention Center, closing the building indefinitely.
Now that all the water has been cleaned up, the City of Midland is in the process of demolishing the damaged parts of the building, but it's going to be a while before the bush convention center is able to reopen.
NewsWest 9 reached out to the City of Midland for comment on the progress made in the repair process.
A statement was sent that said the following:
"The demo phase includes work on two floors. Thus far, they have already demoed and removed approximately 1,900 square feet of concrete on the first floor. This also allows the engineers to assess how much structural attention is needed before replacing the floor. Removal and replacement of tile on the first floor will be needed."
When NewsWest 9 asked about the when the convention center could be reopened, the following statement was sent:
"We are not able to identify a timeline for reopening at this time. We will know more once the repair phase is laid out and when supplies are available."
What about the events scheduled at the convention center? Many of them changed location to the Midland County Horseshoe.
According to Joe Kelley, President of Horseshoe Hospitality Services (HHS), the management company responsible for managing the Midland County Horseshoe, said it's been hectic, but everyone is trying to make it work.
In a statement sent to NewsWest 9, Kelley said the following:
"As you can imagine, when something unexpected like this happens it was pretty chaotic for all of us. For the most part, at least from our perspective, all those affected cooperated pretty well."
The statement listed the following:
"A few examples,
- Boulevard Nights, a large classic car show scheduled at the Horseshoe at the last minute agreed to move their show to June so we could accommodate Comicon.
- A large Job Fair scheduled for the Horseshoe in May agreed to move their event a week later so we could accommodate a 2-day SWS/AAPG Energy Conference originally scheduled at the BCC.
- A number of events, such as Kent Kwik’s large employee appreciation banquet, had to change dates and relocate to the Horseshoe.
- “A Taste of the Permian” had to change dates to fit into the Horseshoe calendar.
- Luckily, some events, such as the Chamber’s own “State of the City” luncheon, could relocate to the Horseshoe without changing dates."
"I would further add that we at the horseshoe consider the BCC to be our partners, not our competition and we're happy to help. I'm sure if the roles had been reversed the BCC would have been the first to step up and try to help us too."
According to the city, demolition on the convention center is expected to last a few more weeks, then crews will move on to restoring the building.
Again, there is currently no word on how long any of that will take, or when we could see the Bush Convention Center reopen.