For some cities, the desire to build a major arts complex is a lifetime dream. For the City of Fort Lauderdale and Broward County, that dream came true with the development of the Broward Center for the Performing Arts. From concept to fruition, this world-class performing arts center was built with years of passion, planning and dedication. The passion began nearly four decades ago, when Fort Lauderdale’s War Memorial Auditorium, built in the 1940s, and the Parker Playhouse, constructed in the late 1950s, struggled to meet the changing performing arts needs of this expanding South Florida cultural community. Recognizing the need for a more viable venue -- one with a much greater seating capacity, spacious backstage and meeting facilities -- and more than one stage, visionaries set forth to turn their dream into reality. Although it would take nearly 30 years, the Broward Center for the Performing Arts opened its doors on February 26, 1991offering the community a future of the best in performing arts and entertainment.