The Location

Fort Lauderdale Option

While the JFK CV-67 Memorial Foundation has identified Miami as its primary venue for the Navy’s consideration, an equally compelling case can be constructed, subject to the Port Director’s approval, for berthing the USS John F. Kennedy just 25 miles to the north in Fort Lauderdale.

Pending expansion plans include a 1,000-room Hilton hotel and new cruise terminals to accomodate the next generation of cruise mega-ships.

Port Everglades serves as the port of embarkation for nearly 1.15 million cruisers annually, making it the third busiest cruise port in the world.  An ideal and potentially available slip location exists scarcely 100 yards from the Broward County Convention Center - which easily could be linked via a covered moving-walkway to south Florida’s premier “off-site” event venue, the John F. Kennedy Maritime Museum.

The red dotted line in the photo-illustration at right depicts the complex security perimeter considerations presented by the close proximity of both high-security (Cruise Port) and low-security Convention / Tourism venues.  The Foundation proposes an alternate approach, positioning the aircraft carrier museum at the dock pictured above which presently accommodates cruise ships.  By shifting all cruise passenger terminals further south (left in the above image), visitors to the Convention Center, Hilton Hotel and the John F. Kennedy Maritime Museum and proposed adjacent theater would enjoy unencumbered access, in sharp contrast to present day security requirements.

Proposed

&

Giant Screen Theater

Broward County Convention Center

Fort Lauderdale, FL

The Fort Lauderdale Vision

The rendering above depicts the existing Broward County Convention Center and Northport area of Port Everglades, traditionally used for “day cruise” vessels and occasionally for larger cruise ships.  While the existing redesign plan for the area includes a 1,000 room Hilton Hotel, and use of the adjacent dock for large cruise ships – our proposal calls for all cruise ship activity to be focused further to the south of the area depicted above.  This approach eliminates the necessity for a high security perimeter fence to bisect an area that is perfectly suited to low security uses which complement both the hotel and convention center’s intended use.

The inclusion of the John F. Kennedy Maritime Museum in the port’s redevelopment plans would directly impact the Fort Lauderdale and Broward County economies, providing an impetus for over-night stays pre- or post-cruise, destination travel for the vessel ’s identified target audiences, increased convention and meeting bookings, and would provide significant “port of embarkation differentiation” in the critical pre-cruise research and selection process.

Nearly 5.5 million people live along South Florida’s Gold Coast within a one-hour drive of Port Everglades.  With seasonal “Snow Birds” and visits by out-of-town guests, the market for a major centrally-located attraction in Fort Lauderdale is self-evident.

Fort Lauderdale Venue Parking

Located directly adjacent to the proposed home of the “John F. Kennedy Maritime Museum” and theater, the Greater Fort Lauderdale / Broward County Convention Center and the Northport Cruise Passenger Terminals 1-4 presently share the Northport Parking Garage.  Plans exist to expand the garage’s current 2,500 spaces, to 4,250 in the coming years.