Sheraton To Buy Bicentennial Pavilion? (24. April 2007, 07:17 by Derek Young) ~ Thoughts? Concerns?
The News Tribune is reporting that the Sheraton could buy the Bicentennial Pavilion under a proposal that will pass before council this summer. What’s intriguing in the story is the concept of price. Some parts of the property are effectively valueless due to long term $1 leases dating back to the 1980s – the glory years of downtown Tacoma… The Pavilion itself needs updating to the tune of a few million dollars. So, what’s in store? Apparently an exploration of mixed use options. Retail. More hotel rooms. Commercial space. This opens up some intriguing opportunities for the area.
Link to The News Tribune
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Mmm…think of the possibilities! At the moment, convention visitors staying at the Sheraton have to negotiate two blocks of ugly parking lots to get to the convention center. The hotel seems to have thrown quite a few options out on the table. What downtown badly needs is connectivity between its dispersed clusters of activity. There will soon be a hundred new apartments up on Market (a conversion from a parking lot!!!) and this area is directly between Pacific Avenue, light rail, and the Marcato development. It would be nice to see some infill.
1 | Posted by drizell | Apr 24, 09:42 AM
The Pavilion itself needs updating to the tune of a few million dollars.
I was glad to see that the article indicated that the city would require something of the buyer for a new design.
The old convention center and the plaza by the Sheraton are pretty stark uses of raw concrete.
They are pretty standard examples of the architecture and landscape architecture prevalent during that time. Because of the exodus to suburban areas, cities felt that the best way to stay competitive was to make everything look suburban with blank walls and massive parking lots. Fortunately, many buildings have uncovered their beautiful brickwork and unique facades, but we still have examples of this antiquated rationale in places like Bicentennial Pavilion and the Park Plaza parking garages.
Because of the exodus to suburban areas, cities felt that the best way to stay competitive was to make everything look suburban with blank walls and massive parking lots.
Interesting. Check out the TNT picture of it. Looks like a bunker designed to protect the conventioneers from the perceived threats in downtown at the time. Actually, alot of buildings constructed downtown are built like this in one way or another.
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