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Super Bowl countdown has ties to Palm Beach County

Posted at 7:55 PM, Jan 29, 2020
and last updated 2020-01-30 04:23:03-05

MIAMI — Thousands of people flooded downtown Miami Wednesday night for the Super Bowl Countdown and Tower Lighting in recognition of the 96-hour countdown to Super Bowl LIV. And there’s a strong Palm Beach County connection to the festivities.

It’s an official ceremony for the new Paramount Miami World Center a 60-story skyscraper. And there’s a big tie into the Super Bowl.

At 6:30 p.m., Miami mayor Francis X. Suarez flipped a switch that illuminated a 696-foot-tall, 350-foot-wide, $3 million color kinetics lighting system that welcomes Super Bowl visitors.

L-E-D Smith, Inc. is the Delray Beach company behind it. The digital display is comprised of 13,000 lights featuring “the moves” of Shakira, the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers.

“This system was three years in the planning and took 10 months to install but as you will see from the results this will be a great thing for Miami and it will welcome Shakira, J.Lo and the Super Bowl festivities.”

Cooper, who lives in Wellington, has put lighting systems on skyscrapers across the U.S. even onto the Empire State Building in New York City.

The Paramount is the sixth-tallest building south of New York City and currently America’s biggest urban construction project and the nation’s second-largest real estate development and serves as a retail, residential, hospitality, entertainment and transportation complex. Cooper’s display is a visible addition to the Magic City’s expanding skyline.

“Shakiras’ dance moves music video and other images can be seen clearly from more than a mile away from Paramount’s western and eastern sides,” said Cooper. “The glow of Paramount Miami Worldcenter can be seen as far as the eye can see.”

The Paramount was developed by Daniel Kodsi who is from Boca Raton.

“No matter from what direction you arrive to Miami; whether it is from the air, sea or ground, starting today, people will look-up in the sky and see Paramount Miami Worldcenter - a towering beacon that says, ‘you’ve arrived,’” said Kodsi. “When we flip this switch we will, forever, re-sculpt Miami’s skyline for the 21st Century.”

“We are here to also note the completion of phase one construction and the start of phase two construction of Miami Worldcenter, which is a symbol of American ingenuity and determination and is a marvel of innovation and design,” added Mayor Suarez.

Miami Worldcenter will be composed of Paramount and 10 other towers, multiple hotels, the new Miami Convention Center, the adjacent Virgin Trains high-speed rail terminal and a half-mile long retail and restaurant promenade.