{"id":118075,"date":"2026-01-03T00:53:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T00:53:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/118075\/"},"modified":"2026-01-03T00:53:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T00:53:08","slug":"city-council-to-discuss-future-of-the-iconic-vip-records-sign-long-beach-amphitheater-press-telegram","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/118075\/","title":{"rendered":"City Council to discuss future of the iconic VIP Records sign, Long Beach Amphitheater \u2013 Press Telegram"},"content":{"rendered":"

The City Council will discuss the future of Long Beach\u2019s iconic World Famous VIP Records sign next week.<\/p>\n

The council on Tuesday, Jan. 6, will decide whether to approve a contract and other necessary documents with World Famous VIP Records and its owner, Kelvin Anderson, to refurbish, license and publicly display the historic sign.<\/p>\n

The current identified location displaying the sign is on the southwest corner of Pacific Coast Highway and Martin Luther King Jr. Ave., according to a staff report. The site will be named \u201cThe VIP Records Park,\u201d after the request goes to the city\u2019s Government Operations and Efficiency Committee for study and subsequent recommendations to the City Council.<\/p>\n

This council item comes at a time when Long Beach is investing in different sectors for economic growth through its Grow Long Beach initiative<\/a> \u2013 which includes investing in arts, culture and entertainment.<\/p>\n

The iconic record store, 1028 Pacific Coast Highway, has also continued its work to fulfill a vision of a museum and educational center<\/a> at VIP Records that would honor the artists and music that shaped a generation while creating a dynamic space for education, community engagement and cultural preservation.<\/p>\n

VIP Records first opened in 1978 and quickly became a cornerstone of the Long Beach music scene. By the early 1990s, it had evolved into a launchpad for aspiring local artists, providing a record store and a recording studio.<\/p>\n

Anderson played a pivotal role in shaping this musical legacy by investing in recording equipment and creating a small studio and stage inside the store, according to the staff report. With guidance from acclaimed record producer Sir Jinx, the studio became a creative hub for emerging talent.<\/p>\n

During the 1980s and 1990s, as gang violence escalated in the area, Anderson opened VIP Records as a safe space for local youth, offering them an alternative to the streets through music, the staff report said. Among the artists who recorded at VIP Records were Warren G and Snoop Dogg.<\/p>\n

In 2017, the City Council made an agreement with VIP Records for to remove, restore and temporarily store the iconic sign and to designate it as a historical landmark. In 2018, the sign was taken down when the building was repurposed for another business. That same year, the city designated the VIP Records sign as a Long Beach Historical Landmark.<\/p>\n

Recognizing its cultural significance, city officials said that Long Beach is committed to partnering with VIP Records to preserve the sign and secure a new and permanent location for its public display.<\/p>\n

If the City Council approves the agreement, the Public Works Department would then begin the process of selecting a contractor to refurbish the sign \u2013 that contract would come back to the council for approval. Public Works would also coordinate with Anderson and the Long Beach community to develop an appropriate placemaking design within the budget of $170,000 that will help improve the site of \u201cThe VIP Records Park\u201d to publicly display the sign.<\/p>\n

Long Beach Amphitheater<\/p>\n

Councilmembers will also receive an update on Tuesday about the Long Beach Amphitheater, as the item asks to increase funds for the project by $7.3 million for site improvements, pre-opening services, and furniture, fixtures and equipment costs for the development.<\/p>\n

In April, the City Council approved ASM Global to operate the amphitheater<\/a> for a five-year term and also approved a $14 million budget to support the design, permitting, project management services and site improvements, as well as to buy furniture, fixtures and equipment to develop the amphitheater.<\/p>\n

In June, the council approved the purchase of grandstands and seating from InProduction, Inc., including three modular grandstand units, premium box and loge seating, integrated grandstand seating, and track seating. In August, the City Council approved the purchase of the amphitheater\u2019s stage.<\/p>\n

As the project progressed through design and preconstruction, however, several factors \u2013 including refinements to the site plan, architectural and structural design updates, rising materials and labor costs driven by tariffs and broader economic conditions, and the integration of additional environmental sustainability measures\u2014 have increased overall project costs, according to a staff report.<\/p>\n

City staffers estimate that an additional $7.3 million is needed to complete and fully outfit the project. Of that amount, about $2.2 million is attributed to increased construction costs, and $4.3 million is needed to support expanded and upgraded furniture, fixtures and equipment purchases, according to the staff report.<\/p>\n

Despite the need for additional funding, city staffers anticipate that the increased investment will not limit the city\u2019s ability to fully recover project costs. The amphitheater is projected to generate a net operating profit of $11.9 million by its fifth year, according to the staff report. The venue is set to open in summer 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The City Council will discuss the future of Long Beach\u2019s iconic World Famous VIP Records sign next week.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":118076,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[7,1610,1071,23,131,133,132,137],"class_list":{"0":"post-118075","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-long-beach","8":"tag-california","9":"tag-city-council","10":"tag-local-government","11":"tag-local-news","12":"tag-long-beach","13":"tag-long-beach-headlines","14":"tag-long-beach-news","15":"tag-los-angeles-county"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118075","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118075"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118075\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/118076"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118075"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118075"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118075"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}