The city of Minneapolis is preparing to accept a $2.7 million bid to remodel the bathrooms at the Minneapolis Convention Center.

Shaw-Lundquist Associates Inc. was the low bidder of six contractors who vied for the project, and the Ways and Means Committee of the City Council is set to approve the contract on Tuesday. The money comes from the Convention Center's budget, which is funded about equally from sales taxes and event revenue.

Kim Insley, a spokeswoman for the Convention Center, said 29 bathrooms will be renovated as part of the "competitive overhaul" project.

"These restrooms are 20 years old and they serve over a million people a year," she said. "They need to be updated to the standards of the other restrooms to serve guests well."

The renovation will make the bathrooms 50 percent more water-efficient, and their lights will burn less energy.

Some 32 other restrooms at the Convention Center, most of them smaller than the ones up for bid now, were remodeled recently at a cost of $3 million. Work on the remaining restrooms will start this spring.

The Convention Center struggles to break even and is constantly undergoing improvements. The latest large city capital expenditure was $11 million devoted to rebuilding the grassy plaza across the street from the main entry.

The council late last year approved spending $879,000 for plumbing, $605,000 to replace "front-of-house exterior" lights and $317,000 to replace drinking fountains. In October, the council finalized a $904,000 contract for dome lighting and in the past 12 months has authorized hundreds of thousands of dollars in spending for signage, wall sconces and ballroom lighting.

Adam Belz • 612-673-4405 Twitter: @adambelz