February 26, 2008
Remodeling History's Vision of the Future
Image Courtesy of the dualy talented, Jay Cox of The Sea Navy and Our Seattlest Flickr Pool
Long spoken of and rarely acted upon, the renovation and remodeling of The Seattle Center was again on the docket for Monday's City Council meeting. Center officials presented a number of new design ideas for the redevelopment of the Center. Central to these are the demolishing of Memorial Stadium and The Fun Forest. Proposed uses for the space include a new outdoor amphitheatre to replace Memorial Stadium, a brand new Center House, and plans to turn the asphalt of the Fun Forest into green space.
While Seattlest has fond memories of both Memorial Stadium and The Fun Forest--the most inaptly named amusement park area ever--both structures are virtual goners. The amusement rides and games of Fun Forest will be closed in 2009, and the Seattle Public Schools who have been deeded Memorial Stadium agree that the best course of action is to tear down the current structure. (Which has always struck us as slightly unstable--not where you'd like to be in, say, an earthquake.) These changes will occur, whether or not a suitable renovation plan is in place.
The estimated price tag for a major revamping of Seattle Center could range between $600 and $650 million. However, City Council member Tom Rasmussen said that a possible 2008 ballot measure about the renovation of the Center would not exceed $150 million. What do you think should be done with The Seattle Center? Would you renovate the Center grounds or keep them as they are today in their retro glory? Speaking of retro, look at this old ad from the 70's we found while searching our Flickr Pool for Seattle Center Images.
This flashback provided to you by Seattest Flickr Contributor, jkerssen
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Man. $150 Million for a Center that isn't being utilized properly? And we can't get a train? Screw this garbage.
Can we just start using this area and build up the area surrounding the Center first? Then we can improve the center.
Right now it's an intentional destination as opposed to a more accidental destination. What I mean by that is people come from all around to the Center for festivals, the opera or ballet. Folks walk through it to get from Belltown to Queen Anne- but it's never really visited just to visit.
Yes, that happens but not enough to warrant its size. And no- improving the Center to be its own destination as opposed to occasional venue isn't going to work. We need to develop the areas around the Center because- let's face it- people are lazy. They won't travel far to get somewhere.
Think more Central Park and less Six Flags.