NBC5: Dallas City Council advances $142 million contract for new convention center design

View original broadcast feature and story here: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/dallas-city-council-142-million-contract-new-convention-center-design/3643461/

(David Goins) - Dallas leaders want a new downtown convention center to do more than just host events but also serve to connect downtown to its neighbors.

On Wednesday, the Dallas City Council approved $141.5 million for architectural and engineering design work for the new Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center.

The city broke ground on the new convention center on June 26.

Carlos Aguilar with Inspire Dallas said the firm is working to create a more open and easily navigable convention center.

“The idea is to make it a convening place," Aguilar said. "It’ll be attractive for folks to hang there and have all sorts of events.”

Inspire Dallas is the project manager for the first phase of the design of the Kay Bailey Hutchison Master Plan, which includes the new building. The master plan also calls for an expansive deck park over Interstate 30 at Lamar.

Additionally, the Dallas City Council also approved $22 million as its share of a TxDOT project to construct deck caps as part of an I-30 rebuild, allowing the city to deck over the interstate at a future date.