Peter Callaghan recently wrote an excellent piece on the renovation of the historic Elk’s building describing it as a metaphor for Tacoma in that “it symbolizes a city with a colorful and sometimes glorious past trying to build a better future; a scrappy middleweight who can rise to the occasion if pushed.”

Tacoma needs to “push” the Prium developers to start the Winthrop Hotel renovation. Each day that passes without the commencement of this seminal project is another lost for future investment in the revitalization of the Theater District and the potential for new retail in downtown Tacoma. The large, multi-story dilapidated Winthrop sits as the gateway to the Theater District for downtown visitors riding the Link light rail system into downtown Tacoma. How many potential investors “trying to build a better future” in Tacoma are being lost while the Theater District limps along in the large shadow cast by this dingy economic albatross?

on the other hand, it is good to see regional press that acknowledges our progress without talking about the smell of the air twenty years ago or Chihuly… nothing against Chihuly.

Great article. I could not find the word crime, aroma or even the mandatory description “gritty.”

It also went a bit further stating how Tacoma is revitalizing by restoring its historical buildings.

Petty, a recent transplant from the flat prairies of Rockford, Ill., says the city is determined to protect the old buildings and reuse them.

Yes.

Kinda have to track with Crenshaw on this one, so far. Western civilization is founded and sustained on great ideas. I would rather Tacoma be known as a center of great ideas rather than a center of restored brick buildings. The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle put it this way: “Nothing is that which rocks dream about.” In other words, rocks don’t think.

What’s a city without people who think critically…?

Right. Federal Way, the feeder city for the White House.

“Tacoma needs to “push” the Prium developers to start the Winthrop Hotel renovation. Each day that passes without the commencement of this seminal project is another lost for future investment in the revitalization of the Theater District and the potential for new retail in downtown Tacoma.”

I’m glad Laura H referred to this as a “seminal” project as Prium seems to be jerking us around. The Winthrop is not as dilapidated as Laura would have you believe. It does need some sprucing up and it could have used some good routine maintenance along the way, but dilapidated is such a harsh word. Harsh words however are used to ramrod projects down the throats of people. I understand there are many that don’t like 200 or so poor people living in the heart of the theater district, I don’t know why, but some people don’t seem to like it.

My idea for the Winthrop would be to leave it residential. Spruce up the retail and the ballroom, the ballroom being a “seminal” sort of project. As the subsidized tenants moved along I would renovate the apartments and rent them out to non-subsidized renters. It could take a while, but in time the entire building would become renovated and no longer subsidized. Heck even sell the vacated apartments as modestly priced fixer upper condos, or better yet go co-op on the building.

The last thing Tacoma needs downtown is a hotel with a bunch of “transients” staying there. We need people living in downtown
as real residents (I consider the current occupants as being real residents, but apparently not real enough for some). Going co-op would have been a great thing for the Winthrop and Tacoma. Instead Prium is getting all seminal on us.

I hope Prium gets moving they did win some award for who knows what… Ghilarducci Award (recognizing successful new development, renovation, or beautification) Was this for the Wintrop or for Hanna Heights?

“Those “transients” bring in outside dollars which help the city as a whole”

I know, just like the Tacoma Dome brings in all those outside dollars, all the meals purchased by concert goers and the like. Got any more rat holes we need to pour money into? People from outside Tacoma really don’t want much to do with Tacoma. We can’t build a better Tacoma by trying to cater to people from outside Tacoma, we have to build a better Tacoma from the inside and make it not a Tacoma people want to visit but a Tacoma they want to call home. Yeah, look at the long lines of out of towners queued up around the Museum of Glass or the History Museum. I have a great idea, how about a museum of rat holes?

I have never been in favor of anything Prium is doing, or has done in Tacoma. I started the responses to this topic by saying that education should be the cornerstone of Tacoma’s redevelopment plans. I see that is needed more than ever. Where on earth would anyone get the notion that I want Prium to work more quickly? Education my friends, the 3 “r“s. Starts with reading.

I’m surprised nobody has mentioned Peter’s article from Sunday: http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/columnists/callaghan/story/72158.html

While it is titled “Advice to cities: Be boring to lure jobs, developers” it’s lead is at the end:

“Don’t try to out-Seattle Seattle or out-Portland Portland. You can’t win that competition. And you wouldn’t want to.”

One building that Callaghan failed to mention in his article on the need for renovation was the Luzon. That was extremely disappointing.

“People from outside Tacoma really don’t want much to do with Tacoma…Yeah, look at the long lines of out of towners queued up around the Museum of Glass or the History Museum.”

Well, I find Crenshaw’s generalizations to be getting rather tiresome. Although there may be a grain of truth in much of what you state.

In the past five years, Tacoma’s shown up in numerous national publications including the Chicago Times, NY Times, Oregonian and more. It is indeed becoming a more livable city.

I’m not saying I want out-of-towners to come here in droves and have it become some sort of Disneyland, but give me a break! It may be interesting for the readers to note that the vast majority of the above-mentioned museums consist of Tacomans who have purchased memberships.

Perhaps this site should require cites in order to post comments.

Maybe only sight is needed. A couple of years ago I was involved with putting on a major conference at the Sheraton and Bicentennial Pavilion. We had hundreds of people coming in from all over the country and overseas as well. The attendees filled all available rooms in the Sheraton and we had to book people into other hotels in the area. I had the opportunity to ask many of the attendees about their experience in Tacoma, it was a point of pride for me as it was my town the conference was being held in, to a person they all begged that the conference never be held in Tacoma again. I had one fellow that enjoyed staying in the Fife hotel we booked him into. Now this crowd was a crowd that frequents a great many convention cities in the US and around the world. They know what makes a city work and they told me that Tacoma just didn’t have it. One woman from Russia was happy, however, to have visited a real Starbucks, my most positive comment. Don’t tell me about the Convention Center either, another program I’m with used the Convention Center last year, neither host or the attendees had anything good to say about it and they were all pretty much Tacoma people. Why on earth would we choose Tacoma as a site for a convention I was asked. Tacoma pride, I told them. Tacoma pride. The last laugh is that we will have them back again, same venue. I’m hoping their experience of Tacoma will be better than the last time. I’m telling them Tacoma is better now, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed that they will be impressed by Tacoma this time. What can I say, Tacoma Pride. We can pick any city in the US, and have had conferences in a good many of them. We want to buy local, as they say, so here we go again.

Crenshaw’s rather negative groups are NOT the typical reaction Tacoma receives from groups holding meetings here. No, we haven’t solved all of our problems yet, but visitors aren’t looking for us to be perfect. They want to see our sights and how we deal or don’t deal with the identical problems their home communities face. It is easy for cities to get caught up in the chase for visitors, but it would be a major mistake to ignore this part of life of a community. And yes there are many out of town visitors to events at the Dome and to the museums. There is no one, all encompassing answer to building a healthy community. Peter C is right that a city should build on its unique assets and not try to be something it is not. He is wrong when he carries this to the extreme that bringing in visitors is something we shouldn’t focus on. Tourism is clean industry, with a huge spinoff of dollars. Tacoma has much to be proud of. Why would you not want to show it off?

As fond as I am of Olympia, it doesn’t have a fraction of the potential of Tacoma. I love the people in Olympia, but in many ways it has further to go in terms of infrastructure and diversity. Tacoma is one of the most ethnically diverse cities you will find anywhere. Olympia is pretty much a town without diversity. They embrace diversity but they really don’t live with it like we do in Tacoma. There is much to recommend in Olympia, but it really doesn’t have the potential of Tacoma. One really doesn’t like to compare apples to oranges and really both cities should march to their own drummers. I do notice there isn’t much of an inferiority complex in Olympia. We have the inferiority complex here big time, maybe that is why people are so sensitive to a little criticism. Believe me Tacoma need not feel inferior to Seattle, Olympia, Portland, or anywhere else. Tacoma should be who she is and be the best she is. I am not involved in any conspiracies, but I am part of a cabal that is intent on making Tacoma a great city. Tacoma, you can come quietly, or you can come kicking and screaming, but in the end Tacoma will be a better place. Someone once described Tacoma as a beautiful woman that was sick all the time. We will make her well.

Does your post on your blog What This Town Needs sum up your feelings about Tacoma and Olympia Crenshaw Sepulveda?

Olympia’s city officials have not been as evil as those in Tacoma, but they are making a good start

I find myself stranded in Tacoma and I have myself quite a dilemma. Lord knows I tried to find a cheap apartment in Olympia, my preferred location being in the downtown area
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I am appalled at the rents being charged in Olympia. Still the Capitol House is well over a hundred bucks a month more than they would charge in Tacoma.
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So getting back to the dilemma. I need to be living back in Olympia. I need to be downtown. I need to walk around as my major mode of transportation and I need to be a part of my community and make the contributions I feel are important. I have a way cool apartment in Tacoma, but it is not enough. Sure I have great job prospects in Tacoma, for way more money than I’m accustomed to, but that is not really my thing.

I’d prefer to be poor and happy in Olympia than wealthy and miserable in Tacoma or anywhere else.

In the end I’ll end up paying $100 more a month for rent in Olympia. A small price to pay to be happy and a member of a true community. I wish we had the selection and flexibility of the housing choices in Tacoma, but that is not yet in the cards. Be assured, once I find my apartment, I ain’t leaving.

I keep reading about all the new businesses and good things that are happining downtown. Yesterday for the first time in a month or so I made a trip down to Broadway (Antique Row) to hit one of my favorite little stores…I could not believe what I saw. several of the stores on Broadway are liquidating. The street was littered…a homeless man was eating out of a garbage can…what is going on…OK so we have new development down on Pacific…but two streets up which was once a collection of ecletic, funky little shps and it now looks like a ghetto…what is going on…that the shops are all closing. I counted 5 in a one block area…..we keep talking about the Winthrop and preserving historic buildings..what are people doing to help preserve the small businesses that have been struggling downtown…or are we just hoping that Pottery Barn or Whole Foods comes to town and saves the day…I suggest everyone who supports downtown redevelopment take a walk down Antique Row…just to see what is really going on in some parts of downtown..it is a sad and pathetic sight.

Not to rattle once again the Broadway LID chain, but it will be large and loud within just a few months. Yes, the LID project is affecting the antique row and St. Helen’s businesses. I attended a meeting yesterday wherein bids will be submitted for the 18 month to 2-year project which extend from Market 9th to 7th, St. Helens 9th to 7th
Broadway 9th to 4th, 7th and Opera Alley.

Businesses are leaving the area because this area will be a construction zone.

So, hold on downtown dwellers, this vital historic area is in the midst of a huge change. Its troubling to me (I am directly in the line of traffic of this zone) that more people aren’t aware and uncomfortable about this process? Puzzling for all the downtown cheerleading that its not really mentioned here what this change will or won’t bring, both long and short term.

Just another piece in the revitalization process.

Boosterism is fine. But sometimes these posts feel like being at a Mariners game with a Rangers fan sitting nearby. You know that you’re both there because you love baseball. He may even say that he really likes the Mariners and comes to their games often. You can talk about how good Felix is and why he needs to stay healthy. You can even debate whether Edgar Martinez should be in the Hall of Fame, with the other fan sticking to the point that Edgar spent his years as a designated hitter, without losing too much good will between the two of you.

It’s when the game is in full swing, and he starts yelling “You Suck!!” at the Mariners pitcher, yells loudly that the team is full of losers, cheers and stands, taunting those around him when the opposing team scores a run, that you want him to move to another section.

Maybe if we just enjoyed the love of the game and kept the hypercritical non-productive verbiage in check, we could savor the thrill of being in the middle of an exciting event together. We can even complain about the officiating and cast our own all-star ballots to effect the outcome of future events without alienating each other. Just saying.

How’s that for taking a metaphor way too far.

Go Rainiers!!

Did Crenshaw take a new nom de plume?

2)If you haven’t noticed, the factories and jobs are gone, and the port has now become nothing but a parking area for cheap imported crap. In other words, Tacoma doesn’t make, do, or export anything anymore.

Bullhsit.

I’ve avoided this discussion and am tempted to leave my comments at that, but it really doesn’t add to the conversation. So I’ll just add that Tacoma-Pierce County has some major export sectors, many of which are tied into the Port and “why Tacoma was.” I’d offer numbers but I don’t think it would convince you or otherwise advance this discussion.

Now if we could focus on growing the local businesses to keep those dollars in the community rather than shipping them right back out for the latest trinket from China we’d be in good shape.

(I’m all for conversation, but let’s keep the information real.)

Plucky…You are so Negative…Are you suggesting that we go back to being the stinky industrial town we once were….Maybe Tacoma would be better off as a (Bedroom Community (defined by the Urban dictionary: A suburban community/town with little to no major employment center(s) to call its own. People only seem to sleep there when they’re not working 80 Hrs./wk closer in to the city where the jobs are. The only commercial space is retail & services for the residents (banks, groceries, malls, etc.) Residents often choose bedroom communities because of affordability relative to living closer to the city, lower perceived crime, and schools with students that look just like their parents.) Send the Port activity and prevailing odors to areas that are not as beautiful as Tacoma…I hear the Port in Manzanillo Mexico is expanding. I would rather see a Whole Foods Store than plumes of smoke any day. Tacoma is destined to possibly becoming an upscale bedroom community to Seattle….With our location and natural beauty we don’t need industry…not a good mix….I read somewhere that just the employment that will generated by the Winthrop Hotel alone will be phenomenal….and how dare you call it a scam….it’s one of the best proposals going….Picture the loads of people coming to Tacoma to stay in a 5 Star hotel…..that alone is something to look forward to..So Plucky…smell the roses…at least you can without the odors from the Port….

Two Points:
First, please accept my apology for incorrectly assuming that this discussion sprang forth from a newspaper article highlighting the apparent renewal of our city’s economic/cultural vitality and my attempt to question whether this apparent vitality is real and sustainable for the long-term. Not understanding that the discussion was merely cheerleading for a development company and a forum for exposing the Olympian roots of some character named after a delicious summer melon, I simply wanted to urge caution in the midst of the newspaper editor’s euphoria. It was quite idiotic of me to presume that I might point out much larger, macroeconomic factors that will soon undermine Tacoma’s, as well as most of our country’s,growth. What was I thinking implicating monstrous trade imbalances and deficits, as evidenced by the lightning-fast transition of our port from an exporting to predominantly importing facility, and how this new and shiney, yet broken, backbone of our economy will not and cannot provide for a healthy urban core, let alone an entire city. Perhaps, as I approach my 90th birthday, my reading comprehension and writing skills just aren’t what they used to be. Again, I am so sorry.

Second, let me thank all of you for setting me straight regarding the truly important factors that will bolster our city’s economy. Another hotel, handouts to developers, cheaply constructed and overpriced condos, and school children running around downtown. As for David S’ and Mofo’s rebuttals regarding the Port of Tacoma, I would simply ask that you both take a look at the Port’s current expansion projects and expansion plans and decipher the implications of those plans.

And Fiona, oh Fiona! I may be old, but I can still smell a rat named Prium when it crawls out of the icebox. Let’s see: The city loans Prium $1 million dollars at low interest for two years while Prium simultaneously collects federal housing subsidies and supposedly is sighting new properties for low income housing. At the end of the two years, Prium will magically announce that the old Concrete Winthrop building cannot actually be converted to anything because of its structural limitations. Furthermore, If you look at Prium’s portfolio of past projects, you will quite quickly see that they have nowhere near the level of experience to handle this project. Has our city council become so lame that they don’t even look at a company’s statement of qualifications anymore? Especially prior to handing out free cash? Yes, Fiona, I AM suggesting that we return to an old stinky industrial town. Although a nice 5-star hotel might bring back those class-A hookers we used to get during the big war.

One more thing – regarding Milgard Windows as glorified by our resident reincarnation of the 15th century Spanish philosopher Sepulveda. Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t the Milgard Window vinyl extrusion plant located in the city of Fife? You know, that other tax base which isn’t Tacoma?

Plucky oh…Plucky….How can you possibly question the integrity of Prium. Just in case you are not aware, Prium was awarded Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber Ghilarducci Award, (which recognizes successful new development, renovation, or beautification). According to the Chamber’s newsletter these awards are presented to companies that “helped to define our successful present and will drive our even more successful future”

I just checked out Prium’s WEB site and there are at least 4 major condominium projects that are currently listed in downtown Tacoma that are either underway or poised for future development by Prium. Unfortunately I could not find the Winthrop on their WEB site as a future or current project. Obviously, there WEB site is probably out of date.

I am sure much of the recognition of Prium at the recent award soiree was in part because of the company’s willingness to step forward and take on the Winthrop, when no one else could. So Plucky….once again this is a major step toward the economic sustainabilty of the future in Tacoma. So naysay if you must but I would give it 2 years and downtown Tacoma will be the gem of the Northwest.

RE: #44. Plucky P.

Remember: Whatever happens in this little virtual world is just pretend…just pretend…just pretend.

Could very well be they were bought by another company. Milgard is a great company and it doesn’t surprise me. So long as they keep making windows here and keep hiring people here, I’ll be happy. If the plants here are shut down and they start making windows overseas, I’ll not be happy. Milgard remains very generous to the local community here. It is good to see a company from Tacoma do as well as Milgard has.

Did anyone read today’s paper and the article titled: “Port moves to condemn land” “On Tuesday, the port commission unanimously authorized port staff members to use the power of eminent domain to force the sale of 140 acres on the Tideflats. The port wants the property to develop marine cargo terminals on the east side of the Blair Waterway.”

http://www.thenewstribune.com/front/topstories/story/76709.html

Could that be what Plucky was talking about? Apparently, in reading the article, the land that is being condemned now contains industry…and the port want to turn these industrial spaces into cargo storage areas…UMMMMM