Austin City Council voted unanimously to approve a resolution directing city staff to prioritize local workers for certain contracts once the Austin Convention Center reopens. The move comes as the facility's old building sits demolished downtown and a $1.6 billion replacement rises in its place, with the shutdown having already squeezed the city's stagehand workforce for months.
The resolution, approved Thursday, directs staff to give preference to applicants that use workers residing within the city or the Greater Austin Metropolitan Statistical Area, according to KXAN. It also favors applicants that use labor providers recognized by the Entertainment Technician Certification Program, a credentialing system for stagehands and technical production crews. The resolution additionally directs City Manager T.C. Broadnax to explore apprenticeship opportunities for skilled-trade work tied to the convention center, including rigging, technical production, decorating and carpentry.
Council Member Vanessa Fuentes authored the resolution, and according to the Austin American-Statesman, she said some workers saw a 70% reduction in work after the old convention center closed. Fuentes said the technical workforce supporting event production was hit especially hard, and that the resolution creates opportunities for local, quality jobs that prioritize local workers.
Union Backing From Stagehands Who Lost Work
Two local unions, IATSE Local 205 and the Austin AFL-CIO, wrote letters to the council and the mayor supporting the resolution, the station's report notes. Jeff Miller, president of the union representing entertainment employees, said according to the Statesman that the union workforce experienced a significant drop in wages after the convention center closed. The union backed the resolution as a way to help its workforce reclaim its former volume of work once the building reopens.
The hardship described by union leaders lines up with what KXAN has reported more broadly: the closure of the Austin Convention Center has caused a significant, ongoing hardship for Austin's local stagehand community. The ripple effects have reached beyond the workers themselves, too. Large business events and groups are not coming to the city in the same numbers as when the convention center was open, according to the Austin Business Journal, which reported that the closure has hit downtown businesses hard.
A $1.6 Billion Rebuild Years in the Making
The current convention center is set to close in April for demolition, and the Statesman reports that Austin began construction on the new building last April at the site of the old one. The project, known as UnconventionalATX, is slated to cost $1.6 billion, a figure referenced in a city document reviewed by Hoodline. The Austin Convention Center Department has released renderings of the expansion, and the Statesman reports the facility is set to open in early 2029.
A photo caption cited by the Statesman shows demolition work continuing on October 14, 2025. The project has not been without controversy. The Statesman reports that the convention center became a political flashpoint earlier this year, when a local political action committee sued the city in Travis County over an effort to force a public vote on whether to proceed with the project. A Travis County judge ruled in the city's favor in February, according to the same account, allowing construction to continue.
For now, the resolution signals an attempt by the council to soften the blow for local stagehands while the city waits out the multi-year rebuild. Whether it will restore the volume of work lost since the old building's closure remains to be seen once the doors reopen in 2029.
