ANAHEIM, Calif.
The biggest event at the Anaheim Convention Center squeezes into every inch of the massive building and even wiggles into nearby hotel ballrooms each January.
This year, the city-owned center expects to push forward with plans to create more room, now that convention business is bouncing back: A new outdoor plaza is set to break ground in May. The center also hopes to revive plans to add more meeting space.
By the time the NAMM Show’s 90,000 guests return in a year, the show will be able to use the Grand Plaza, a 100,000-square-foot, outdoor area for parties, concerts, festivals and casual gatherings.
The plaza will hold 10,000 people. Crews plan to break ground May 1 on the plaza and finish it by the end of the year. The Grand Plaza will sit along Convention Way in front of the Hilton and the Marriott, on the center's southeast side.
Shortly after the plaza breaks ground, the city plans to launch a new proposal to construct 200,000 square feet of space along Katella Avenue, across from Disney California Adventure. The new building would go where a parking garage now sits. There would be a link between the two buildings, perhaps a bridge.
