 With support from the local Chamber of Commerce, the Civic Center Redevelopment Corporation was established in September 1959; it was given power of eminent domain, which is used to condemn the city's small Chinatown, the Grand Theater (a strip club), and various warehouses and flophouses.Groundbreaking occurred on May 25, 1964, and construction took just under two years.The plan also included parking garages, a hotel (a Stouffer's hotel), and office buildings.