March 22 marks the final game of the season for the Tri-City Americans but also the beginning of a transformation for the area around the Toyota Center and Three Rivers Convention Center.

The Kennewick Public Facilities District plans to break ground on its long-planned expansion of Three Rivers Convention Center as soon as the hockey season ends, PFD officials announced at a recent Kennewick City Council meeting.

It’s a step made possible by council members unanimously approving the $71.3 million budget for the project, which will be paid through a combination of bonds, local government funds and existing city tax revenue.

The expansion is scaled back from early proposals, which would have cost upward of $80 million. But council members said they are eager to see the project get underway, especially without having to raise taxes.

For PFD officials, though, this will make Kennewick and the Tri-Cities overall a destination for everything from sports tournaments to conventions.

“All of it coming together will be an absolute game changer for our region,” said Cory Pearson, the PFD’s executive director, at the council meeting.

An enclosed connection between an expanded Three Rivers Convention Center and a planned new hotel (not shown) appears in this rendering for the $71 million expansion project. The Kennewick City Council recently signed off on the project’s budget, which will be paid for through a combination of bonds, county and city funds.

| Courtesy Kennewick Public Facilities District

The expansion will add a 60,000-square-foot exhibit hall; 5,000 square feet of additional meeting rooms; an extended lobby/pre-function space; and a new kitchen to the existing facility. It’s expected to open in the fall of 2026.

Hotelier A-1 Pearl will simultaneously build a 162-room AC by Marriott hotel to the east of the Toyota Center that will connect to the expansion as part of a public-private partnership with the PFD.

Calvin Dudney, president of the PFD’s board, told the council that construction documents are 90% complete and more than two-thirds of the project bids are in, many coming in below projection.

“This has been a long trail to get here but it’s a happy time in my life for sure,” Dudney said.

The PFD has worked to expand the convention center since 2012. Voters have shot down ballot measures to raise the funds for construction. That led PFD officials to go back to the drawing board and also seek other ways to pay for the project.

“We had to sit back down and start doing some figuring out what we had to have and wanted to have,” Dudney said.

The council’s approval of the project would allow the city to seek $50.3 million in bonds to finance the bulk of the expense. The city also will provide a combined $14 million through its capital fund and lodging tax revenues. Benton County’s Rural County Capital Fund, which comes from state sales tax rebates, will contribute $7 million.

“Seventy-one million is a big number but coming down from $80 million in the past year is also impressive,” said Mayor Gretl Crawford. “I do appreciate there was definitely teamwork there and some value engineering to make it a little bit more affordable.”

Pearson stressed that investment in the project will pay dividends for years to come. The new exhibit hall will be able to accommodate a variety of sporting tournaments, from basketball to pickleball to wrestling, as well as allow events and conventions that have outgrown the current facility to return. PFD officials anticipate doubling visitors to the convention center once everything is online.

“Staff and I have already been meeting with local tournament and equipment folks,” Pearson told the council. “The interest is already there, which we’re really excited about.”

Crawford and other council members said the expansion is just one more way the city is coming into its own at just the right time. The Port of Kennewick’s adjacent Vista Field mixed-use development is beginning to ramp up development as businesses buy parcels and start construction.

“This has been interesting to watch, to see Kennewick become a player in the competitive environment of convention centers in Eastern Washington,” said councilman John Trumbo. “Kennewick is now standing pretty tall and will now stand taller.”