The Laurence Auditorium was perhaps best known as the site of the Prudhoe Bay oil-lease sale in 1969, conducted by Alaska's state government under then-Governor Keith Miller.

Project 80s, started under Mayor George Sullivan and largely spearheaded by his successor, Tony Knowles, saw the replacement of those two buildings with the ACPA.

Building the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts was perhaps the most controversial undertaking of Knowles's six-year tenure as mayor, largely due to the doubling of the original $35 million cost estimate before construction completed.

Mayor Tom Fink, Knowles' successor, threatened to defund the center over cost overruns.

[1] The design of the building was criticized for lacking a drop-off area, and for entrances on the wrong side of one-way streets.