WACO, Texas — Hundreds of people visited the Brazos room Wednesday to celebrate the Waco Convention Center's 50th anniversary.
"It's had 50 years of use and memories and all kinds of good things here," Manager of Marketing and Communications Carla Pendergraft told 25 News.
For Lorenzo and Linda Marquez, that good thing was getting married at the center in 1975, just a few years after it opened.
"We had, I think, the first Hispanic wedding here in the Brazos room," Linda said, :We had a thousand chairs and they were all taken, and there people standing around the walls."
While the wedding may have been the first event they attended there, they would go on to host their daughter's quince and go to parties, graduations and music events.
"It's part of the family, it's part of the community and everything," Linda said. "It's nice, it's a beautiful place."
Community members all had different memories and this was all about reliving them.
"It's been fun seeing everybody and see their interests and what they've done here," former employee Don Davis said. "It's been fun."
Organizers also gave tours of the building to anyone who hadn't been there in a while.
