Plans for the long-awaited $28 million Ovation Center in downtown Lansing are moving ahead — but with fewer architectural flourishes than originally proposed.
A bold redesign by Detroit-based Albert Kahn Associates, unveiled last year, featured sweeping glass walls and a dramatic cantilever roof. But bids came in as much as $5 million over budget, according to a City Pulse report. Rising costs, worsened by Trump-era steel tariffs, forced project leaders to reconsider.
The project has since shifted to a design-build model, with Freund & Associates replacing Kahn as construction architects in an effort to cut costs and streamline the timeline.
Founding director Dominic Cochran said the simplified design — which includes more modest glass walls and eliminates the cantilever — still preserves the core mission of the project.
“We’re protecting what matters most: the audience experience,” Cochran told City Pulse.
A towering steel-and-neon “Lansing, Michigan” sign is now planned to crown the building, part of an effort to brand the surrounding district as an entertainment hub.
Despite the setbacks, Cochran and former Mayor Virg Bernero said they remain confident the center will open as scheduled in early 2027.
