With the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show a few weeks away, Pier 66 Marina at Hyatt Regency, where the boat show will be going down, is ready to unveil the final phase of its $20 million renovation.
The first phase of the iconic pier's renovation is complete, and phase two will be completed by October 20. Included in the renovation for the 127-slip, deep-water marina will be a yacht basin and face dock. Among the other major parts of the makeover are accommodations for up to 16 yachts 150 feet in length.
The marina used to be able to accommodate only ten yachts before the renovations.
See also: The Seven People You'll See at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show
Among the other renovations to Pier 66, located at the Hyatt Regency at 2301 SE 17th St. in Fort Lauderdale, will be new bulkheads, a new Marinetek floating dock, and a new electrical infrastructure equaling more than 3,600 linear feet of parallel dockage and fixed docks. The old electrical system is being replaced with new power distribution.
"They knocked down the marina from the 1950s and built a brand-new, state-of-the-art marina," Show Management's senior vice president and chief operating officer, Andrew Doole, told marine website Trade Only Today. "So not only is it added back into the show but it's a brand-new marina, which will enhance the show. It's another opportunity for us to accommodate some very large yachts."
The Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show will be kicking off its 55th year this October and, as always, will bring in thousands of marine enthusiasts and boat lovers to gawk at superyachts, fishing boats, and seafaring vessels of every kind.
To accommodate visitors, the show spreads out to seven locations connected by land and water, from the Bahia Mar Fort Lauderdale Beach Hotel & Yachting Center to the Hall of Fame Marina, Las Olas Municipal Marina, Hilton Fort Lauderdale Marina, Sails Marina, Pier 66 Marina, and the Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center.
The renovations to Pier 66 are the first for the pier in 50 years.
This year's boat show kicks off on October 30, just ten days after the renovations are expected to be completed.
The Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show runs through November 3.
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