An aerial photo from April 1975 shows the construction site of Rupp Arena, left, and what will become Lexington Center, the Hyatt Regency Hotel and Triangle Park. The grand opening of Rupp Arena was Oct. 7 to 10, 1976 and the first concert there featured Lawrence Welk and his orchestra. When it opened, Lexington Center was a five-fold operation: the convention-exposition hall, Rupp Arena, a shopping mall, the 17-story Hyatt Regency Hotel, and the Lexington Opera House. According to a 1976 article in the Herald-Leader, financing for Lexington Center and Rupp Arena was complicated, but it involved $66 million in private and public funding. $50.9 million of that was public money. On July 19, 2018, a groundbreaking ceremony was held for the long-awaited expansion of the Lexington Convention Center. The 3-year, $241 million project will be built in phases to allow Rupp Arena and much of the existing convention center to remain in operation. Click on the photo for a closer look and click here to see more images from our archives of Rupp Arena construction. And click here to to see a gallery of images celebrating Rupp Arena’s 40th anniversary, which was celebrated in 2016. Photo by John C. Wyatt | Staff