The Pasadena 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 ...

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. ...

. It consists of three buildings.

Pasadena Civic Auditorium

The Civic Auditorium, one of the major structures in the Pasadena Civic Center District, was built in 1931 and is best known for being the home for the

Emmy Awards The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

from 1977 until 1997. It was designed by architects George Edwin Bergstrom, Cyril Bennett, and Fitch Haskell. Today, the Auditorium is home to the

People's Choice Awards The People's Choice Awards is an American awards show, recognizing people in entertainment, voted online by the general public and fans. The show has been held annually since 1975, with the winners originally determined using Gallup Polls until ...

and the former home of the Pasadena Symphony Orchestra. It has also been used for some episodes of ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to ...

''. It was used as the show's venue for "Hollywood Week" in season 10. The 3,029-seat

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perfor ...

hosts musicals, operas and concerts, among other events, on its stage. The venue's

theatre organ A theatre organ (also known as a theater organ, or, especially in the United Kingdom, a cinema organ) is a type of pipe organ developed to accompany silent films, from the 1900s to the 1920s. Theatre organs have horseshoe-shaped arrangements ...

was acquired in 1979, having been commissioned from American firm M. P. Möller in 1938 as a touring organ by Englishman Reginald Foort, who attended its Pasadena inauguration on April 23, 1980. It had been used by the BBC during and after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. In addition to the main auditorium, the Civic Auditorium building originally contained two lecture rooms and an exhibition hall of .''Southwest Builder & Contractor'', January 2, 1925 The auditorium was famously the site of some of the earliest live performances of

Van Halen Van Halen ( ) was an American rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. Credited with "restoring hard rock to the forefront of the music scene", Van Halen was known for its energetic live shows and for the virtuosity of its lead gu ...

before being discovered. The '' Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever'' special was taped here on March 25, 1983; and aired on NBC in May. The show is best remembered for

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the " King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over ...

's performance of "

Billie Jean "Billie Jean" is a song by American singer Michael Jackson, released by Epic Records on January 2, 1983, as the second single from his sixth studio album, '' Thriller'' (1982). It was written and composed by Jackson and produced by Jackson and ...

" in which he debuted his signature dance move the " Moonwalk".

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and Singing, vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and se ...

's 1951 album '' Satchmo at Pasadena'' was also recorded here. The annual NAACP Image Awards have been held at the Auditorium numerous times, including at least (earlier records are incomplete) 1992–2000, 2014–2018, and 2020–2022, excluding 1995 (no awards presented) and 2021 (virtual due 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 ...

). The auditorium has also been used for the Miss Teen USA 2007 pageant. The preliminary and final competitions were broadcast live on NBC. From 2017 to 2019, the Auditorium hosted the 44th, 45th, and

46th Daytime Emmy Awards The 46th Daytime Emmy Awards, presented by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS), honored the best in U.S. daytime television programming in 2018. The ceremony was held on May 5, 2019, at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Pa ...

alongside their related 44th, 45th and 46th Daytime Creative Arts Emmy Awards. The auditorium has hosted the ''

America's Got Talent ''America's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated as ''AGT'') is a televised American talent show competition, and is part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. The program is produced by Fremantle (as well as distribu ...

'' audition rounds since season 11 (2016). It also serves as the main venue for the live shows starting on season 17 (2022). The auditorium hosts the annual Pasadena Unified School District graduation ceremonies for Blair High School, John Marshall Fundamental Secondary School, John Muir High School and Pasadena High School, which takes place after the Memorial Day holiday, since 2011.

Exhibition Building

The Exhibition Building, adjacent to the west side of the Auditorium, features of exhibit space and can seat up to 4,400 for various events. Adjacent to the Exhibition Building is a annex seating up to 600 patrons.

Conference Building

The Conference Building, adjacent to the south side of the Auditorium, has 20 meeting rooms totaling .

References

External links

Pasadena Convention Center

The Pasadena Civic Auditorium
{{Pasadena Convention centers in California Concert halls in California Buildings and structures in Pasadena, California Tourist attractions in Pasadena, California Multi-purpose stadiums in the United States Public venues with a theatre organ

Pasadena Civic Auditorium

Exhibition Building

Conference Building

See also

References

External links