Animate Raleigh returns with major crowd expected after convention center fire
RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- The Animate Winter Conference has returned to the Raleigh Convention Center after being postponed from December's fire on the building's roof.
Organizers are expecting 10,000 people per day, and they estimate that the three-day event will pump at least $2 million into the economy.
Local vendors are thrilled that the postponed event is finally happening.
Emily Foster, a Raleigh resident and NC State graduate, owns Alpaca Sews.
"It's really exciting to be able to come here and be able to interact with the community in a way I can't usually do," said Foster.
Several events were postponed when flames ripped through the convention center.
ABC11 was the first to see damage inside the kitchen. A mobile workspace had to be set up at Red Hat Amphitheater as a temporary fix for events to return.
"It's pretty miraculous how well it's worked," said Raleigh Convention Center Executive Director Kerry Painter. "We have put out over 89,000 meals at this point out of that kitchen and all of our 100,000 desserts. So it's working."
The final meal from the mobile kitchen will be served March 29.
The mobile kitchen will then be shipped to its next destination, and repairs for the convention center kitchen should be finished in April.
"We will add the last pieces on the roof to the kitchen, and then when all passes inspections, we should have a working kitchen in the first or second week of April," Painter said.
As far as the damage to the roof goes, ABC11 was told that bids for a new solar-LED roof will probably open up in early summer.
