The new Convention and Exhibition Centre already has 159 convention bookings stretching into 2015. (CBC)

Vancouver's brand new Convention and Exhibition Centre officially opens Friday, at nearly twice the original price and with an uncertain economic future.

Officials have said the waterfront centre with its spectacular views of the mountains north of Vancouver already has 159 convention bookings stretching into 2015.

In September, it will be turned over to Olympic organizers to become the broadcast centre during the 2010 Winter Games.

But a professor of public administration at the University of Texas says, thanks to the economic downturn, the huge facility may have trouble attracting the big conventions it needs to pay the bills.

Heywood Sanders said if conventions aren't cancelled during tough economic times, they will likely be downsized.

The centre cost nearly $900 million to build — $400 million more than its original budget in 2003 — in part because of a decision to upgrade the plans and make the facility a showcase for the 2010 Winter Olympics.

The opposition NDP said the project has set an all-time record for cost overruns in B.C., and blamed the escalating costs on the governing B.C. Liberals' failure to develop and follow a proper business plan.

With files from the Canadian Press