Groundbreaking held for $48 million Expocentre renovation project

The Kansas Expocentre is Shawnee County’s community meeting space, where its citizens have hosted dignitaries, thrilled to the Cirque du Soleil and “shared our sorrows when we’ve had law enforcement that’s gone down,” Shawnee County Commission chairman Bob Archer said Monday.

He said he felt honored that the county was going to improve, expand and enhance that facility.

Archer was among speakers at a ceremony in which shiny shovels with red bows on them were used to break ground for a $48 million renovation project aimed at bringing the sparkle back to the aging Expocentre, with work set to be completed in May 2021.

Shawnee County owns the Expocentre, which opened in 1987 in central Topeka after being built at a cost of $19.7 million. The facility is run by Pennsylvania-based Spectra venue management.

The renovation project is being financed using $45 million in revenue from a countywide half-cent sales tax Shawnee County voters approved in 2014 and $3 million in excess county reserve funds.