Three Rivers Campus

Development History

1988 - Tri-Cities Coliseum opens it doors as a hockey arena
2000 - City of Kennewick purchases and turns the Coliseum into a public facility
2004 - City of Kennewick assigns management to the Kennewick Public Facilities District, which then engages VenuWorks Inc. to oversee day-to-day operations
2004 - Construction of Three Rivers Convention Center
2005 - Naming Rights Sponsorship Agreement reached with Toyota USA and Toyota of Tri-Cities to brand Coliseum and Ice Arena as the Toyota Center and Toyota Arena
2014 - Springhill Suites connected to Three Rivers Convention Center begins construction
2018 - Smart lighting installed to accommodate various programmable event lighting arrangements
2019 - New LED TV boards installed in Toyota Center
2019 - Public/Private Partnership Announced for $85m expansion of convention center and addition of a seven story hotel and retail center.

2019 Public/Private Partnership

On September 3rd, 2019 the City of Kennewick Council approved a Purchase and Sale Agreement with A-1 Pearl for the sale of property adjacent to the Three Rivers Convention Center and Toyota Center. The agreement calls for the City to develop a 33,000 square foot addition to the existing Convention Center along with a 2,000 seat flex-space Performing Arts Theater; the private party will develop at the same time a seven story high-quality hotel with a restaurant, spa, an outdoor pool and an adjacent 40,000 square foot retail center.

Public/Private Partnership Highlights

Nearly $20m in potential economic impact by retaining existing events that are outgrowing the convention center.
$210m in potential private investment between both phases proposed by developer
Private development supports traffic to and income of retained and new events at expanded Convention Center
No new taxes to finance public portion of project
Supports community-wide vision and desire for priority regional projects
Substantial new sales tax and lodging tax dollar reinvested in local economy