Crews on Jekyll Island are getting to work on the state park's new convention center. Gov. Sonny Perdue and other state officials are scheduled to attend a groundbreaking ceremony for the convention center Tuesday.

The convention center is the centerpiece of Jekyll Island officials' plans to upgrade hotels and meeting space on the island to bring back tourists and convention planners who started going elsewhere because of Jekyll's aging amenities.

The state is spending $50 million on the project, mostly on the convention facilities, while private companies are overseeing construction of new hotels. The new convention center will feature a main hall of 50,000 square feet - more than three times larger than the largest meeting room in the old convention building. Construction is scheduled to be completed in 2012.

Tags: tourists, hotels, construction, Jekyll Island, state park, Gov. Sonny Perdue, convention center, groundbreaking ceremony, amenitites