The Los Angeles Convention Center is a

convention center A convention center (American English; or conference centre in British English) is a large building that is designed to hold a convention, where individuals and groups gather to promote and share common interests. Convention centers typica ...

in the southwest section of downtown

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

. It hosts multiple annual conventions and has often been used as a filming location in TV shows and movies.

History

The convention center, designed by architect Charles Luckman, opened in 1971 and expanded in 1981, 1993 and 1997. It was originally built as a rectangular building, between Pico Boulevard and 11th Street (now

Chick Hearn Francis Dayle "Chick" Hearn (November 27, 1916 – August 5, 2002) was an American sportscaster who was the play-by-play announcer for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association for 41 years. Hearn is remembered for his rapi ...

Ct.) on Figueroa Street. The northeast portion of the center was demolished in 1997 to make way for the

Staples Center Crypto.com Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Downtown Los Angeles. Adjacent to the L.A. Live development, it is located next to the Los Angeles Convention Center complex along Figueroa Street. The arena opened on October 17, 1999; it w ...

. The Convention Center Annex of green glass and white steel frames, mainly on the south side of Pico, was designed by architect James Ingo Freed. The area in front of the convention center is known as the Gilbert Lindsay Plaza, named for the late councilman who represented the Downtown area of Los Angeles for several years. A -high monument honoring "The Emperor of the Great 9th District" was unveiled in 1995. The drive between Figueroa Street and the convention center building is also named after Councilman Lindsay. On March 1, 1983, a tornado caused damages to the roof and upper-level panels. The building was repaired and new convention center lettering signs were installed at a total cost of $3 million. On September 15, 2008, the convention center became the first in the U.S. and first Los Angeles City building of its age and size in the U.S. to be

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating systems for the design, constructio ...

(LEED) certified for Existing Buildings from the

United States Green Building Council The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), co-founded by Mike Italiano, David Gottfried and Rick Fedrizzi in 1993, is a private 501(c)3, membership-based non-profit organization that promotes sustainability in building design, construction, and op ...

. In 2013, the Los Angeles City Council voted to let Anschutz Entertainment Group manage the convention center.

Events

The convention center hosts annual events such as the

Los Angeles Auto Show The Los Angeles Auto Show is an annual auto show held at the Los Angeles Convention Center in early December. The LA Auto Show is an OICA sanctioned international exhibition. It is open to the public for ten days each year, filling of exhibit ...

, the Abilities Expo, the Anime Expo, and is best known to

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This feedba ...

fans as host to the

Electronic Entertainment Expo E3 (short for Electronic Entertainment Expo or Electronic Entertainment Experience in 2021) is a trade event for the video game industry. The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) organizes and presents E3, which many developers, publishe ...

, also known as E3.

Grammy Week

During the week leading up to the annual

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

, the convention center typically hosts several Grammy week events. Since 2005, the convention center has hosted the MusiCares Person of the Year tribute, which takes place two days prior to the Grammy Awards. It also hosted the pre-telecast portion of the Grammy Awards (preceding the main telecast at the

Crypto.com Arena Crypto.com Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Downtown Los Angeles. Adjacent to the L.A. Live development, it is located next to the Los Angeles Convention Center complex along Figueroa Street. The arena opened on October 17, 1999; it w ...

) until 2013, when the pre-telecast was moved to the Nokia Theatre (now the Microsoft Theater). The 2021 awards were held in and around the convention center, owing to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

Emmy Week

Following the annual

Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...

s ceremony, the convention center hosts the Governors Ball, one of the major Emmy after-parties.

2028 Summer Olympics

During the 2028 Summer Olympics, the convention center will host six sports. It will host

Women's basketball Women's basketball is the team sport of basketball played by women. It began being played in 1892, one year after men's basketball, at Smith College in Massachusetts. It spread across the United States, in large part via women's college compet ...

preliminary games,

Boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

Fencing Fencing is a group of three related combat sports. The three disciplines in modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre (also ''saber''); winning points are made through the weapon's contact with an opponent. A fourth discipline, ...

, Taekwondo,

Table Tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

and BMX Freestyle. It will be a part of the Live Site Olympic Zone down Figueroa St. Boxing might not be included at the 2028 games if the IOC decides to drop the sport from the Olympic sport program.

Features

The convention center is one of the largest convention centers in the United States with over of exhibition space, of meeting space, of parking, and a 299-seat theater. The lobby floors in the north half of the building feature two large multicolor maps of inlaid

terrazzo Terrazzo is a composite material, poured in place or precast, which is used for floor and wall treatments. It consists of chips of marble, quartz, granite, glass, or other suitable material, poured with a cementitious binder (for chemical bind ...

. The project was installed by artist

Alexis Smith Margaret Alexis Fitzsimmons-Smith (June 8, 1921 – June 9, 1993) was a Canadian-born American actress and singer. She appeared in several major Hollywood films in the 1940s and had a notable career on Broadway in the 1970s, winning a Tony Awar ...

in 1993. A map of the world centered on the

Pacific Rim The Pacific Rim comprises the lands around the rim of the Pacific Ocean. The '' Pacific Basin'' includes the Pacific Rim and the islands in the Pacific Ocean. The Pacific Rim roughly overlaps with the geologic Pacific Ring of Fire. List of ...

covers the entire floor of the main lobby, while a map of the

constellation A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object. The origins of the earliest constellation ...

s around the north celestial pole covers the floor of the upstairs lobby. * South Hall ( Tom Bradley (Mayor) Exhibit Hall, ) * Kentia Hall (beneath South Exhibit Hall, can be converted into a 415-car parking garage) * West Hall ( Sam Yorty (Mayor) Exhibit Hall, ) * Neil Petree Hall * Concourse (two-story meeting room bridging over Pico Boulevard) * 3 food courts * On-site parking for 5,600 vehicles including electrical charge stations

Expansion proposals

In 2010, the Anschutz Entertainment Group and businessman

Casey Wasserman Casey Wasserman (born Casey Myers; June 28, 1974) is an American entertainment executive. He is the founder, chief executive officer and chairman of Wasserman; Chairman of LA28, the Organizing Committee for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Ange ...

proposed construction of Farmers Field, a US$1 billion combination football stadium and convention center, meant to attract the return of a

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the majo ...

(NFL) team to the Los Angeles area. The development proposal was abandoned in March 2015. A new proposal was developed in 2015, approved by city hall and a design team was chosen. A new convention hall, called "LACOEX", would be built, with a connection to the south hall.Conventional Wisdom - The Architect's Newspaper
. Archpaper.com. Retrieved on 2013-08-23.

References

External links

Los Angeles Convention Center website
{{Authority control Convention centers in California Buildings and structures in Downtown Los Angeles Multi-purpose stadiums in the United States South Park (Downtown Los Angeles) Charles Luckman buildings Grammy Award venues Venues of the 2028 Summer Olympics Olympic basketball venues Olympic boxing venues Olympic table tennis venues Olympic cycling venues Olympic fencing venues Olympic taekwondo venues