The $1.6-billion Washington State Convention Center expansion project in downtown Seattle has a new contractor and a clear path toward the start of construction in 2017, while development on the Pacific Northwest’s largest hotel continues next door.

Surging revenue for firms generating power, light and building communication technologies charged up record attendance for the 2016 National Electrical Contractors Association convention in Boston.

After years of plans, the National Museum of African American History and Culture opened on Sept. 24 near the Washington Monument.