Hailing Long Beach as a showcase worthy of an international audience, Mayor Rex Richardson pledged Tuesday to transform the city into an entertainment juggernaut with revitalized music venues that can draw world-class acts year-round.

In his third State of the City address, Richardson told a crowd of 3,000 that this starts with a new amphitheater.

Titled the Long Beach Bowl, Richardson said the venue will hold up to 12,000 seats and offer a skyline view of the city and Queen Mary ocean liner. For the first time, the city showed renderings of the planned construction.

A rendering of a planned amphitheater at the Queen Mary released at the Long Beach State of the City on Jan. 14, 2025.

It will be built at the ship’s overflow parking lot, he said, with an expected opening by this fall.

Richardson said the amphitheater will be managed by ASM Global, which already operates the city’s convention center. The announcement came as workers, in a contract dispute with ASM Global over better wages, have pressed the City Council to step in. Workers outside the center protested Tuesday — passing out fliers and asking people to boycott the address.

Midway through his speech, a handful of protestors also repeatedly chanted “no evictions, rent freeze now,” causing two brief recesses.

“Now how many of you want us to continue the State of the City address?” Richardson said, calling for applause to drown out the interruption.

An usher escorts a protester out of the Terrace Theater during the State of the City address in Long Beach, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.

Richardson also tasked city manager Tom Modica to negotiate a new public-private partnership with ASM at the Long Beach Arena, which is part of the convention center complex, as a means to redirect money for improvements to the 63-year-old venue.

It’s part of a plan, he said, to make the Arena into a “significant revenue-generating asset” that can pay for its improvements and also boost the local economy.

Plans come as Richardson and the city are under increasing pressure to replace declining revenue as oil extraction rapidly dries up. He’s promised to fill the gap with growth in fields such as high-tech manufacturing, aerospace, health care and education. But as the 2028 Olympics edge closer into view, Long Beach’s tourism and entertainment sector will also need to play a much larger role.

“At every pivotal moment in our city’s 127-year history, at every major historical juncture, Long Beach leaned into the arts and entertainment and culture to push our city forward, to further define our identity, our culture and our global impact,” Richardson said.

Richardson drove home his point by inviting iconic local rapper Warren G on the stage.

“Long Beach is a breeding ground for talent and creatives,” Warren G said. “There’s something in the water y’all, I don’t know what it is.”

Other accomplishments and goals were sprinkled throughout the speech. The city expects to receive $17 million annually through the newly passed L.A. County Measure A toward the development of affordable housing and renter assistance. In an ode to his walkout music, “Magic” by Mustard and Vince Staples, Richardson announced the city’s Entertainment Strategic Plan Advisory Committee, of which Staples has been named an honorary co-chair.

Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson gives the State of the City address at the Terrace Theater in Long Beach, Tuesday Jan. 14, 2025. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.

He also mentioned accomplishments from 2024. Police academies are finishing at record pace — 100 new officers in 2024 — right in time for the completion of their new campus. The Fire Department is now fully staffed. And potholes are now filled six days a week, up from five, amounting to more than 66,000 filled since 2022.

In 2025, he wants to see more firefighters and more paramedics; he wants low-interest loans and shatter-proof windows for storefronts; he wants more art installations from local artists; and he wants Long Beach to be the first city in California to hire its staff within 90 days, with preference for local residents and university students.

He called on Modica to create several other programs, ranging in focus from senior housing and first-time home buyers to accelerating the city’s transition to zero-emission vehicles to include heavy-duty trucks.

A rendering of a planned amphitheater at the Queen Mary released at the Long Beach State of the City on Jan. 14, 2025.

“This critical sustainability initiative will advance the city’s climate action goals by decreasing our greenhouse gas emissions — a direction we must continue to push forward together to address the very real and significant impacts of climate change and extreme weather events.”

Throughout the ceremony, speakers also mentioned the fires still burning elsewhere in Los Angeles County. Orators mentioned the early heroism of volunteers, asked for donations through the California Community Foundation and, at the evening’s start, took a moment of silence for those who died.

By the end of his speech, Richardson announced the donation drive raised $569,000 to support wildfire relief efforts, and pledged to continue it through Thursday’s State of the Port address.

“I know 2025 has begun with some unexpected challenges,” Richardson said in his closing. “What matters most is how we finish.”