American Samoa has opened a 3.5 million US dollar multi-purpose centre that will be one of the main venues for next year's Pacific Arts Festival.
The Rex Lee Auditorium has been renovated and equipped with state of the art sound and lightning system, air conditioning, new bathroom facilities and conference amenities.
The turtle shaped building known as Lee Auditorium was rebuilt and contstruction took one year.
The US Department of Housing and Urban Development and Department of Interior funded the renovation.
Governor Togiola Tulafono says it was hard convincing federal grantors that the building needed to be air conditioned.
