The City of Rochester is breaking ground on improvements to the Riverside Convention Center.

Upgrades to the facility will include a new building addition along Main Street with a glass-fronted event space, LED display panel and landscape planters, which officials say will provide a more welcoming appearance to the facility.

The $13 million project is being helped by a $5 million investment from New York's Upstate Revitalization Initiative.

“The Rochester Riverside Convention Center has been a community resource and an economic driver for the city since it opened," Rochester Mayor Malik Evans said in a statement. "The convention center isn't just a gathering place, it's one of the first places in Rochester that visitors will see if you come in for a conference or an event. It takes place right here. So we want to make sure it is welcoming and inviting. That’s why our convention center must reflect the energy, optimism and prosperity that is modern-day Rochester."

“The importance of this project should not be underestimated," James Brown, executive director of the Joseph A. Floreano Rochester Riverside Convention Center, said in a statement. "The convention center operates in a highly competitive marketplace and improvements such as these that increase our footprint and add quality amenities are not only essential to our long-term health as a venue and a city but is an expectation by today’s meeting planners and the community it serves.”

Officials say this the first of more potential upgrades in the future if they are able to secure funding.

The Rochester Riverside Convention Center first opened in 1985. It hosts more than 300,000 guests annually and generates more than $30 million in economic value, according to city officials.