Local News in Brief : Burbank Hires Consultant on Plans for Convention Center

The Burbank Redevelopment Agency hired a consultant Monday to study the feasibility of building a combined convention and community center.

The study, to be made by Robert Black, will cost at least $85,000 plus expenses, said Larry Kosmont, community development director. The funds have already been included in the agency’s budget for fiscal 1985-86.

Kosmont said Black is a recognized trade-show specialist and has participated in the development of several major convention centers.

Black has indicated that a convention center in Burbank would attract small- to medium-sized trade shows, for which there is a growing demand, Kosmont said. Black told the agency that facilities that serve the smaller trade shows are in short supply, and that larger centers in Los Angeles and Anaheim are not well-suited for such shows.

Construction of the center, if approved by the agency, would take four or five years, Black said. Potential sites include the area around the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport and 10 vacant acres near the proposed Hahn Town Center in downtown Burbank, Kosmont said.