Long Beach : Work to Begin on Tripling Size of Convention Center

Workers will begin this month to triple the size of the Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center, bringing more than 800 new jobs to the city and the prospect of nearly 2,500 more in the next five years, officials said.

Additions to the center, which will include a 22,000-square-foot ballroom and expanded meeting rooms as large as 70,000 square feet, will allow the city to compete with cities the size of San Diego, Phoenix and Denver for convention business, Joseph Prevratil, project manager of the convention center expansion, told the Long Beach City Council on Tuesday.

“This will probably be one of the most competitive convention centers on the West Coast,” Prevratil said. “We could never really attract the international convention. Now that’s a whole new market we can look at.”

Long Beach is funding the expansion, expected to cost $95.5 million, with money borrowed from the port, which it will repay with the city’s hotel bed tax. Financing also will come from city bonds and state funds.