A Major Hurdle

Seattle is full of itself. We’re very independent…very opinionated…and very provincial. Some things we take too seriously and other things not seriously enough. The site of the 1962 World’s Fair has become the city’s gathering place for festivals, celebrations, observations and demonstrations. Earlier this year, a proposal was put forward by two of the city’s icons, the Space Needle and world renowned artist Dale Chihuly. The idea was to create the world's largest exhibition of Dale Chihuly’s glass art on the site of a now defunct amusement park. At no cost to the taxpayers, this creative mecca would be a much-needed revenue-generator for the city, an attraction for hundreds of thousands of visitors and locals, a green playground designed by artists and a haven for arts education. Could you possibly guess that a handful of our citizens who don’t like Dale Chihuly’s art (my oh my, but I’m being much too kind here), a few more who think that we can turn Seattle Center into Central Park and yet others who had absolutely nothing to do with the Master Plan for the Center decided that this idea didn’t fit the mold? What was to be a gift for the good of our city was punched, slapped and battered near submission by this effete minority. It has been a long and winding road but today the sun broke through the clouds. We cleared a major hurdle when the Chihuly Exhibition was selected by the Center’s Review Committee to be the sole recommendation for use of the site. This has been a tough contest but the game is not over. The project has to go to the Mayor and then to the City Council for approval of the lease. Who knew it would be so hard to be nice. Oh well, as I said before, Seattle is full of itself.




Below is our statement on the recommendation and an early article posted on the Seattle Times website. The battle continues… but for today, we smile.



This process has brought renewed excitement and energy to the Seattle Center and we’re happy to be a part of it. Thank you to the Century 21 Committee. We hope that this focused attention on the Seattle Center will benefit the city, the tenants and the public as we begin the next fifty year chapter for the campus . The input received over the last several months from interested citizens, neighborhood groups and public officials has been invaluable in making a great project even better. We are anxious to move forward with the Chihuly exhibition and to play an active role with the Seattle Center, the Mayor and the City Council in bringing a new vitality and openness to the community’s premier gathering place.



As much as we’re thrilled about creating the Chihuly Exhibition, there is still opportunity to find room for one or more of the other proposals on the campus of Seattle Center and we are committed to that end. We want to thank Mayor McGinn and the Seattle City Council for encouraging collaborations. If we work together now, and quickly, there will be a number of wins in this process.



Jeff Wright

Chairman

Space Needle, LLC





http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2012925681_chihuly18m.html