After more than a decade of planning and discussion, the Los Angeles City Council voted Tuesday to move forward with plans to renovate and expand the Los Angeles Convention Center.
The $54 million proposal would substantially expand the center’s exhibition hall, meeting room and multi-purpose room space in preparation for the 2028 Olympics.
The city-owned convention center will be the site of boxing, fencing, taekwondo and table tennis for the 2028 Summer Olympics.
The City Council voted 13-1 to allocate the funds and move forward with pre-construction work, but several council members expressed concern about the tight timeline the city has to complete the project.
The preliminary work will allow the city to determine whether renovations to the 1971 building can be completed on time and, if it turns out that can’t be done, the city may halt the project.
“Not only will Los Angeles have a world-class convention center to be proud of, ready for the global stage, it will also create thousands of full-time and temporary jobs,” said City Council Member Karen Price.
Under the proposal, none of the existing facilities would be demolished, and new construction would connect several buildings and add 190,000 square feet of exhibit hall space, 55,000 square feet of meeting room space and 95,000 square feet of multi-purpose space.
If the convention center project proves viable, the city would pay for its construction, but the work would be done through a public-private partnership between Anschutz Entertainment Group, which would operate the center, and developer Plenary Group.
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