Pete's Banquet Center
Arvida Parkway Center - Boca Raton, Florida
1992
In 1992 a Dalt's restaurant, an offshoot of TGI Friday's went out of business. Our client for Pete's, located on the other side of the lake, in the Arvida Parkway Center, asked us to remake the vacated building into a banquet center.
Pete's banquet business had flourished but could not accommodate large events and/or live entertainment, plus it would prevent having another competitor in the development.
The first challenge was to get rid of a column in the middle of the space that held up the whole roof. We solved it with a large beam that spanned the entire building above the roof and was supported by columns that were outside the building walls.
In addition to the large and flexible interior space there was a comparable exterior lakeside "room" with another entertainment stage, and all under an awning roof structure.
It became a successful event venue for some time and is still there in very good shape, but under different management.