By JOSE HERRERA | City News Service
As Los Angeles prepares for 2028 Olympic Games and city leaders aim to boost tourism, the City Council on Wednesday, Dec. 13 approved an expansion and modernization of the Convention Center — the first renovation of the building in 30 years.
Council members voted 14-0 in favor of what is known as Convention Center Expansion and Modernization Project, consisting of a specific plan and sign district that will guide development on the effort. Councilman Curren Price was absent during the vote.
“I’m thrilled to be at this stage of the Convention Center Expansion and Modernization Project,” Price wrote in a letter to the council’s Planning and Land Use Management Committee on Dec. 5.
He added, “It is our vision that we convert this into a world class facility with state of the art renovations.”
Price’s Ninth District stretches from the L.A. Convention Center and the L.A. Live Complex to the historic communities of Vermont Square, Central-Alameda and Green Meadows.
“The expansion will result in a roughly 45% increase in size of the center and allow for grander exhibitions, greater amenities and better ease of access,” Price wrote in the letter.
The documents will require Mayor Karen Bass’ approval, and the plan will become effective after 30 days.
According to the Department of City Planning, the project will feature a 700,000-square-foot New Hall building, connecting the existing South and West Halls over Pico Boulevard.
The New Hall building will include 193,000 square feet of new exhibit hall space; 60,000 square feet of new meeting rooms; an atrium entrance and lobby along Pico Boulevard; and a 98,000-square-foot rooftop multi-purpose hall and a 10,000-square-foot outdoor event space with a view of Downtown Los Angeles.
Additionally, the project will provide interior modernization of the existing Concourse Building and South Hall buildings, including partial demolitions of each hall to connect to the…
Read the full article here
