RALEIGH, N.C. — On Dec. 1, 2025, a fire broke out on the roof of the Raleigh Convention Center.
The venue reopened the week of Jan. 12, with construction efforts still continuing. By reopening then, the convention center retained approximately $4 million in revenue and 28,000 hotel room nights.
Trade Show Executive (TSE) checked in with Kerry Painter, CVE, CMP, CEM, Executive Director of the Raleigh Convention Center, to discuss how the power of collaboration has helped restore the venue.
ANDREW: What caused this fire and what was the extent of the damage?
KERRY: The fire began at the refrigeration unit on the roof. Thankfully, all the fire damage was contained to the exterior of the building.
There were some water impacts from the fire, but our contractors and staff worked quickly to clean that up, and now we’re moving forward.
We’re mainly just so grateful that no one was hurt and that our amazing first responders were able to get here within three minutes and get the situation contained so fast.
ANDREW: Could you describe the effort to restore and reopen the Raleigh Convention Center?
KERRY: Our team, city staff [and] our contractor Cotton Global Disaster Solutions have all worked so hard to get us to this point.
It’s been non-stop work here to remove and replace drywall, furniture [and] kitchen equipment, and to arrange for the replacement of some of the larger impacted equipment.
A crane is removing some of the elements that need to be replaced on the roof … which is a big step forward.
And as we’ve been making all of this progress on our back-of-house restorations, our team has prepared to welcome guests back … getting furniture ready, rooms set [and] food prepared, and working [while] focused on providing our guests with the same high level of service they’ve come to expect from us.
Related. Kerry Painter, CVE, CMP, CEM, Receives IAVM Convention Center Lifetime Achievement Award
ANDREW: How was this milestone reached so quickly?
KERRY: Great collaboration. Our team has constantly been working with our contractors to get this work done quickly.
Every department of the City of Raleigh has provided support; it’s been an all-hands-on-deck effort. We know how crucial our venue is to every planner who we work with, [and to] all the great hotels and restaurants in downtown Raleigh who our guests visit, and we’re so excited to have events back in our building.
ANDREW: Could you walk through the creation and impacts of the mobile kitchen in the Red Hat Amphitheater?
KERRY: We’re really excited that this mobile kitchen is going to allow us to continue to operate at our usual high level while our regular kitchen undergoes repairs. This is the same mobile kitchen used for large, high-end events like Formula 1® racing, so our clients are getting the same excellent service they’ve come to expect from us.
Setup took about five days, and it’s custom to our needs, so it includes the usual equipment and functionality we have in our permanent kitchen.
ANDREW: How else are you ensuring that the venue is able to host events effectively while repairs are taking place?
KERRY: Thankfully, impacts to our actual event spaces were minimal, and those are completely functional.
Our staff is being adaptable and creative … We’ve already got events in-house, and from the planner and attendee perspective, we’re making sure they happen just like any events in our space, regardless of the situation, which is exciting to see.
ANDREW: When and how do you expect the venue to recover completely?
KERRY: We don’t have an exact timeline at this point; some of the timing is dictated by the need for some highly specialized equipment, but we’re doing everything in our power to get our building back to normal as quickly as possible.
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