LONG BEACH, CA — With less than two years until the Olympic flame arrives in Southern California, a billion-dollar transformation of Long Beach is already underway.
The city's Elevate '28 Infrastructure Investment Plan now totals more than $1.089 billion across more than 180 projects, making it the largest infrastructure investment plan in Long Beach history.
Not all of that money is being spent on the Olympics. But the city's adopted budget identifies $215.6 million specifically for 2028 Olympic Legacy projects, part of a broader effort to upgrade parks, streets, public facilities and visitor-serving areas before the Games.
The scale of that preparation is significant. Long Beach will host 11 Olympic sports and seven Paralympic sports, more than any venue city outside Los Angeles. The Olympic program alone includes 161 ticketed events and 35 finals spread across 17 days.
Among the biggest projects is the Belmont Beach & Aquatics Center. The City Council approved an approximately $60 million construction contract with Bernards Bros. Inc. in January for the new waterfront facility, which will replace the former Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool demolished in 2014 because of seismic safety concerns.
The facility will include a 50-meter competition pool, a recreational and instructional pool, spectator seating, locker rooms and other amenities. The city expects it to be completed before the 2028 Games. However, this should not be confused with LA28's Long Beach Aquatics Center, which is a temporary venue planned near the Convention Center that will host Olympic water polo and artistic swimming and Paralympic swimming.
Long Beach Airport is undergoing its own $37 million transformation ahead of the Games. Work that began in April will modernize all 11 gate areas, with new seating, charging stations, flight-information displays, wayfinding and renovated restrooms, along with mechanical and electrical improvements.
The project is scheduled for completion in 2027. Of the $37 million cost, $24 million comes from federal grants, with the remainder covered by airport revenue and no local tax dollars, according to the city.
Long Beach's seven Olympic venues will stretch along the waterfront from Marine Stadium and Belmont Shore to Alamitos Beach and the Convention Center area.
Events include rowing, canoe sprint, beach volleyball, open-water swimming, sailing, sport climbing, handball, water polo and artistic swimming.
And construction isn't limited to Long Beach; across the harbor in San Pedro, the Los Angeles Harbor Commission on Thursday approved $70.2 million in construction contracts for waterfront parking, roadway and park improvements ahead of the Games.
The larger project will create up to 2,100 parking spaces near Harbor Boulevard and 22nd Street and widen part of Harbor Boulevard to two lanes in each direction. Construction is expected to begin in November of this year and finish in early 2028, when Olympic sailing will be split between Belmont Shore and the Port of Los Angeles.
Long Beach's preparations, however, extend far beyond a few weeks of competition. The $1.089 billion Elevate '28 program encompasses projects across the city intended to leave lasting improvements after the athletes and spectators are gone.
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