City Of Wenatchee Approves Bond Measure For Convention Center Renovations

The City of Wenatchee is moving ahead with its plans to renovate and expand the Wenatchee Convention Center.

On Thursday, the city council approved the adoption of a resolution to issue bonds for the project, which is expected to cost about $16 million.

City Administrator Laura Gloria says the move should clear the way for the City to start taking construction bids for the work by next spring.

"The bond resolution gives us some parameters as to how much (money) we can take out, what our potential interest rates are, and how much we can afford to pay back based on revenues. So it does set some specific bookends for the City to work by."

Most of the bond money, roughly $14 million, would be used to build an addition onto the convention center that would include a new entrance and flexible meeting space.

Gloria says there are additional renovations that could become part of the project which will be decided upon at a later time.

"We also have some alternate things on our list like redoing the existing Fuji and Gala meeting spaces and new paint, carpet, and lighting. Those are all add-ons, however, so we're not sure which of those things the council will want to move forward with. So they'll be making that decision once we go out to bid and get the bids back."

Gloria says the City hopes to have a contractor in place by next summer.

The construction timeline for the project is fifteen months with the work expected to be completed by autumn, 2025.