CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Construction work at the Charleston Civic Center is slated to conclude in September 2018, with crews soon beginning interior work on the 58-year-old facility.
The Civic Center has remained open since construction began more than two years ago and hosted events such as concerts, Disney on Ice and WWE Live while work has been underway.
“It has been an inconvenience most recently to some clients, but we’ve been able to stay open and fulfill all our obligations to our customers,” Civic Center general manager John Robertson said on “580 Live” last week.
Robertson said recognizable features of the Civic Center, such as the main lobby, have changed to fit the new design.
“In June, we closed that down. It will come back with a lobby that will mimic the one on Clendenin Street,” he said. “Lots of glass and openness, and that will be finished in April. In the meantime, we have little corridors established so that we can connect one side of the facility to another.”
Robertson, who has been with the Civic Center since 1977, said the Civic Center is an important facility for both Charleston and West Virginia, and it is important for it to be updated to attract more events to the region.
“When you think about it, a lot of the most important events in this area happened at either the state Capitol Building or the Charleston Civic Center,” he said.
The total cost of the project has climbed from the initial $82 million to $94.1 million.