Cleveland Convention Center

The construction work would expand the center’s main ballroom, build staircases and escalators and add an outdoor terrace. Council voted 8-1 to pass the spending Tuesday evening.

Initially billed as the “medical mart,” the taxpayer-funded building was meant to become a multi-story showroom for health care technology when it was completed in 2013. A tourism official this week acknowledged the building fell short of its original promise.

Thousands of people attended the BrickUniverse convention over the weekend in Cleveland, including members of a local Lego building group.The Northeast…