PACIFIC BALLROOM

The Long Beach Arena is a beloved 13,500 seat venue that is part of the Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center (LBCEC). Opening in 1962, the arena has played host to such icons as The Doors, U2, and the Grateful Dead.

To improve the offerings to their clients, the LBCEC wanted to add flexibility and infrastructure to the arena, to allow it to be easier used for large flat floored events. The result of the concept was a large removable grid system that allowed lighting, audio, and scenery or decorations to be quickly and easily hung. And, the whole system being removable allowed the arena to still be used in it's original form.

The new configuration of the arena was named The Pacific Ballroom, and opened to instant success. As a banquet or convention space, the Pacific Ballroom has a banquet capacity of 3,200, a reception capacity of 5,000, and a traditional theatre capacity of almost 4,900.

Michael Ferguson provided theatre planning, theatre design, and performance equipment design and specification as individual effort while at a previous firm.