DALLAS — Dallas City Council on Wednesday voted 14 to 1 to tear down the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center and move forward with a new convention center to be located downtown.

The new convention center will cost $2 billion and construction is slated to begin in 2024 with estimated completion coming in 2026.

City staff say the new convention center will offer improved pedestrian access, better connectivity and give downtown Dallas an economic boost by attracting both out-of-town visitors as well as Dallas residents.

The lone dissenting council member, Cara Mendelsohn, said she wanted to see a cost analysis as well as some assurance that the convention center will be profitable in a post-COVID world.

According to a news release from the city, plans for the convention center call for elevated ballrooms with downtown views, the opening of Griffin and Lamar streets to natural light and the reconfiguration of Lamar Street to create a central lobby and enhanced pedestrian experience.

Additionally, the city said, the project will open land east of Lamar to new development and connect downtown to the Cedars and other neighborhoods. Memorial Arena and The Black Academy of the Arts and Letters will be converted to a conjoined facility.

More information about the project is available here.