ST. LOUIS — St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones, St. Louis County Executive Sam Page and more St. Louis area leaders came together Tuesday morning at America’s Center for the groundbreaking of the center’s expansion project.
Explore St. Louis is calling this project a much needed "facelift" for America's Center. It was last updated in 1995.
In April, St. Louis County lawmakers issued $105 million in bonds for an expansion of the downtown convention center, plus $40 million for a recreation center in north county.
The goal is to bring more tourism to St. Louis. More tourism means more money for the city.
But that also means some serious cash needs to be spent on these renovations to modernize America's Center.
The $210 million renovation project is called AC Next Gen.
“The last few years have been very challenging for the industry, and that makes today even more important: we are back and building something new that will benefit St. Louis and event planners for many years to come,” said Kathleen Ratcliffe, president of Explore St. Louis.
One of the first changes you'll notice will be to the front entrance of the center on Washington Avenue. Crews will modernize it, add a new exhibit space and a 61,000-square-foot multi-purpose ballroom and meeting area with 20,000 square feet for pre-function events, like receptions.
The renovation also includes plans for a new kitchen near the exhibition facilities.
Changes are coming to the outside of America’s Center, too. A new 80,000-square-foot green space will be added with an outdoor pavilion.
PHOTOS: America's Center expansion renderings
The expansion will also double the number of loading docks for access to the exhibit space.
The Dome will still serve as a multi-purpose venue for large events.
“This expansion to America’s Center will help secure its place as a beacon for travel and tourism in the Midwest, creating good jobs for working families across our region,” said Mayor Jones. “Attracting more conventions and attractions will strengthen our city’s urban core and make Downtown an even better place to live, work, and play.”
“Our geographic location makes St. Louis a perfect place to host national events,” said County Executive Page. “AC Next Gen ensures we’ll have the infrastructure to support those who want to gather here.”
Officials believe the expansion will lead to $394 million annually in direct spending because of meetings and events held at the convention center. They anticipate the project will generate a demand for 491,000 hotel room nights per year and support 4,950 full-time jobs after the expansion is complete.
This renovation project almost didn’t happen, with some opposition to the expansion stretching back several years.
In 2019, county and city leaders made an agreement to use tourism tax dollars to fund the changes. That was met with backlash from some community leaders.
We spoke with Adolphus Pruitt, president of the St. Louis chapter of the NAACP, in October of last year. He told 5 On Your Side that part of the deal was not being reached. More than one-third of the funding was supposed to be used for a community center in north St. Louis County. Construction on that project was delayed repeatedly.
Explore St. Louis, the city's convention and visitor's bureau, oversees the fund.
In response, and in efforts to get the north county center finished, the NAACP re-highlighted a travel advisory in October 2021, warning people there is a lack of support for local communities of color in the area.
The region's tourism agency argues that the agreement was only to help fund the north county facility, not to design and build it.
Also in response to the north county center debate, St. Louis County Councilwoman Rita Heard-Days withdrew her support of the entire project in October 2021.
The project was put on hold that month before resuming in November 2021.
In April, $40 million was approved by the St. Louis County Council for a recreation center in north county.
The groundbreaking ceremony was held at 9:15 a.m. You can watch a recording of the ceremony in the below video player: