An expansion of the Sacramento Convention Center proposed by the architectural design firm Populous would add large glass-walled spaces above the existing center and Community Center Theater.
The design firm was engaged by the Sacramento Convention & Visitors Bureau to see how to expand the center, which is now one of the smallest convention centers of a major city on the West Coast.
Kansas City-based Populous has designed more than 1,000 arenas, malls and convention centers all over the world.
With an estimated cost of $200 million, a complete renovation designed by Populous would add two 45,000 square feet meeting rooms to the top of the Convention Center complex. As a reference, the existing main ballroom space on the third floor of the convention center is 25,000 square feet.
The expansion would put Sacramento's center at a size where it could compete for the vast majority of convention business.
The last expansion of the center was in1996, adding the upstairs ballroom and 84,000 square feet of exhibit space to the ground floor main exhibit space to make it 134,000 square feet.
The design also would add a new entrance to the center at 15th and K streets.
The San Jose McHenry Convention Center has 223,000 square feet of exhibit space, and the center is in the midst of being expanded from a total of 425,000 square feet to 550,000 square feet — to be completed in September. San Jose's expansion design also was done by Populous, said Meghan Horrigan, director of communications for Team San Jose, the marketing arm for conventions there.
"Many of the walls are floor-to-ceiling glass. It has a much more open and modern look," she said.
