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As November zips by we are already at this month's Third Thursday Artwalk. However, with this being Art at Work Month there are a few more things on the calendar for this evening. In addition to all the great venues available by foot or the Art Bus, there are a couple of items off the beaten path that jumped out:
- Final lecture/discussion of the Conversations RE: Tacoma series is titled "Uncovering Tacoma's Authenticity: What's the Draw?" Sponsored by the AIA, it promises to discuss how we can create a vision for Tacoma's future and sustain it. For more info, please visit the Conversations website. ($10, 6PM, Museum of Glass)
- Madera Architectural Studio is hosting their annual small works show. While the MAE collection of local artisians is typically focused on building components and home furnishings, this show highlights scaled down works that are a bit more portable - and affordable. For more info, please visit MAE's website. (Free, 5-8PM, 2210 Court A)
For a full list of events today, and the rest of the month, head over to the Art at Work website.
So I've received a few questions about this already, so I figure it is worth noting: Today, November 11th is Veterans Day, a City observed holiday. This means the paystations are turned off and time limits do not apply to those spaces where holidays are excluded. (This is not all spaces, so please read the signs.)
The best resource I've seen for parking holidays is located on the side of the paystations themselves or on the City's parking website here. Scroll down to General Information for the holidays.
Regardless, have a good holiday and remember to appreciate the veterans and active duty service members in our community. A list of events can be found here.
After a great open house last night, there is plenty of feedback to sort through on how to best implement wayfinding along Pacific Avenue. However, if you weren't able to make it, you still have a few days to provide feedback via this form.
If you can't access the form, please contact me at this link or simply answer the questions below:
1) Regarding vehicular wayfinding, what are your your top three priorities for destinations in each area:
a) Downtown Core
b) Downtown Theater District
c) Downtown UWT
d) Foss Waterway
e) Stadium District
f) Hilltop District
g) Dome District
2) Regarding pedestrian maps, what key locations should be identified on a kiosk at each of the following locations:
a) Pacific Avenue & South 9th Street (SW corner)
b) Pacific Avenue & South 12th Street (West side)
c) Pacific Avenue & South 17th Street (NW corner)
3) Any additional input for future phases of wayfinding in Tacoma?
Once you've got some answers, please send them to Sue O'Neill at the City, Patricia Lecy-Davis at Go Local, and/or David Schroedel at the BIA/Chamber. If you're feeling extra daring, you could share your thoughts with the world by posting them below. If you are trying to figure out what this is about, please visit our prior post on the subject.
This Saturday, November 12th, at 2PM the Tacoma Arts Commission will be leading a 90-minute tour of the Prairie Line Trail. This will be a great opportunity to learn about the significance and future of the Trail while enjoying a series of public art interventions.
Before the Prairie Line Trail followed Hood Street as it does today, it was the western terminus for the Northern Pacific Railroad's transcontinental line (beating out other notable northwest cities). Today the City is discussing how to best retain this piece of history while integrating it with modern uses (previously discussed here). In addition, the City is looking at ways to build a non-motorized trail connecting the Water Ditch Trail through south downtown to and onto the Thea Foss Waterway.
(more below)
Our Tacoma LINK is all dressed up for the holidays (though the action photo above doesn't do it justice). In addition to the LINK makeover, there is a larger campaign to encourage customers to "Eat. Shop. Do. Skate." downtown. This is part of Sound Transit's mitigation work associated with the temporary closure of Pacific Avenue as the Sounder commuter rail looks to expand.
(more below...)
There has been a lot of discussion about the Pacific Avenue Streetscape Project and the reconfiguration of the street (most recently here). However, this project also includes a consideration of wayfinding to and around downtown and beyond.
Next Wednesday, November 9th, the City of Tacoma, the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber of Commerce, and Go Local will co-host a wayfinding open house from 5 to 6PM at the Chamber's offices (950 Pacific Avenue, 3rd Flr, 98402). If you stop by any time during the open house, you can see current designs and provide feedback on visitor destinations and information for wayfinding signage and kiosks.
If you're curious about wayfinding, with a feeling that we've talked about this before, you'd be right. While the conversation certainly goes beyond the life of this blog (& blogs in general) a quick primer on wayfinding within the BIA can be found in this post from over five years ago.
Focusing on helping people not familiar with downtown and Tacoma in general, what destinations do you send visitors to? How do you give people directions to get there? How do we better connect destinations, not only with signage, but also with design and infrastructure? These are all big questions that allow us to attract and serve visitors better and deserve an appropriate level of thinking.
What: Wayfinding Open House
Where: Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber, 950 Pacific Avenue 98402, 3rd Flr
When: November 9, anytime 5-6PM
Why: Gain feedback on key visitor destinations/information for wayfinding signage & kiosks.
More: www.cityoftacoma.org/pacave or Sue O'Neill at 591-5789 / soneill@cityoftacoma.org
We received word that the South 9th Street construction project (most recently mentioned here) will not be completed this year. Rather than work through the holidays, the project will be shut down by November 10th - just in time for Veterans Day - and will not be reopened until late February, 2012.
In the meantime, there will be some minor work for a couple more weeks as the construction team works to address a newly discovered underground oil tank at the corner of South 9th and Market. This should be wrapped up by November 18th.
Finally, there is the issue of Court C. Part of this project involved reversing direction on Court C between 9th and 11th from one way southbound to one way northbound. This is currently scheduled to occur on November 8th and 9th. Please be aware of traffic that may be going in the wrong direction in the weeks following. (I still see people going the wrong way on the 700 block of St. Helens.)
