Project Description
The Pasadena Convention Center Renovation and Expansion Project is located in the heart of "the city that feels like a village," on Green Street. This city funded project will include work on both sides of the Historic Pasadena Civic Auditorium, and will consist of an exterior and interior renovation of the existing Conference Center and a complete demolition and expansion of the existing Exhibition Hall and West Plaza. Once complete, the new 60,000 square foot Exhibition Hall, 25,000 square foot Ballroom, and 28 breakout rooms will not only increase Pasadena's Convention Center capabilities, but they will serve to enhance the City's status as one of the United States finest and most historic cities.
While designed to nearly double the size of Pasadena's current Convention Center, this new, state-of-the-art, facility will not impede on the grandeur of the Historic Pasadena Civic Auditorium, which has stood as one of Pasadena's most cherished and utilized architectural treasures since its doors opened in 1932. On the contrary, the City and its designers have taken great care in designing a modern Convention Center facility that not only maintains architectural symmetry with the "Civic", but enhances it. This will be accomplished by incorporating details taken directly from the Civic Auditorium's classical Renaissance design and constructing arcade spaces similar to those found at the city's other architectural treasure, the Pasadena City Hall. In addition, the Auditorium's grand entry plaza will be reconstructed in a manner that better reflects its original 1932 design intent.
Scheduled for completion in April of 2009, this complex construction process will take nearly two and one-half years to complete. However, due to the cooperative efforts of the City of Pasadena, Fentress Bradburn Architects, the Pasadena Center Operating Company, DMJM Construction Management, and the Clark Construction Group, the City's existing Conference Center and the Historic Civic Auditorium will remain open to the public and fully operational for the entirety of the project. As such, the City's Convention Center and Civic Auditorium clientele will not have to seek alternative venues for their scheduled events.
In addition, the project also includes the erection of a 28,650 square foot Stressed Membrane Structure on the East Plaza, which will provide additional exhibit space for Pasadena's Convention Center clientele. Upon completion, the city of Pasadena will have the option of making the structure a permanent venue or removing it in favor of providing additional parking.
Once completed, the entire complex will tie together in seamless unity, improving the functionality and capabilities of the Pasadena Convention Center, while embracing the City's architectural history, and enhancing the City's image as a cultural destination.