A Reason to Come to Tollefson Plaza…Showcase Tacoma

Showcase Tacoma, a multi-disciplinary arts experience takes place in the heart of downtown Tacoma next Friday and Saturday, August 8-9, 11am-9pm.

This 3rd annual event features the exploding local and regional arts scene! Enjoy visual and performing art exhibits and demonstrations, art installations, and performance activities for people of all ages!

Here’s what you can expect:

Awesome music for all tastes: The live music on the Main Stage will include indie rock, jazz, blues, and performances from some of the best high school musicians. The Helio Sequence is headlining on Friday night and has proven to be quite the draw! Before that, you can check out the Iron Artist competition at the Tacoma Art Museum.

Thought provoking poetry: On Saturday Washington State Poet Laureate Sam Green will be reading with special guests. The literary component has exploded this year, so if that is your scene there are readings galore throughout the event.

Art to buy and make: Indie craft artists will be selling unique wares. Try your hand at chalk drawing, ceramics, puppetry, knitting, and even break-dancing. There will broad range of activity and art forms represented from contemporary art installations to little ballerinas.

Good Food: The food and beverage are provided by all our local downtown (predominantly) restaurants/vendors: Pacific Grill, the Harmon/Hub, Maxwell’s Speakeasy, Two Koi, NW Popcorn (great ice cream), Kenya’s Italian Ice, Hot Dog Rod, and Cutter’s Point Coffee.

For more information check out the Metro Parks website here.

Broadway LID Phase 2 Begins Early

Phase 2 of the Broadway Local Improvement District (BLID) will begin July 28th, three months ahead of schedule.

Business owners had previously been told that improvements on Market Street, between South 9th and South 7th Street, would begin in October. Instead, starting next week, Wm. Dickson Co. will begin work on Phases 1 and 2 of the BLID concurrently. This work will include utility upgrades, sidewalk repairs and other streetscape improvements.

The contractor and the City chose to move forward on Phase 2 sooner than planned to take advantage of the dry summer weather, which is generally ideal for street work. Also, by doing Phase 1 & 2 simultaneously, the project timeline will speed up 1 to 3 months, with a winter break. (At no additional cost.)

Additionally, according to the City’s project website, moving forward on Phase 2 now will allow streetscape improvements to be made at the same time as the storm drain work, eliminating the need to tear up the street more than once. Was the plan really to dig up the street twice!?

This schedule change will mean more traffic restrictions along Market Street between 7 a.m. and 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. Also, all on street parking will be eliminated from the work area.

WANTED: Comments on Wayfinding Sign Designs

On Thursday representatives from Rusty George creative presented two new concepts for wayfinding signage in downtown. The intention of the signs are to more effectively direct visitors to Tacoma to sites, attractions and areas of interest in downtown Tacoma and other business districts.

The design of the signs is based a few guiding principles:

• Use established best practices for effective signage (Font size and type, arrow shape, ADA needs)
• Simplify and prioritize information
• Be consistent
• Information should be logical, visible and easy to follow
• Colors, words and symbols should compliment not compete

The new concept designs will be presented to the Economic Development Committee on August 29th. Please review the designs here. We welcome and encourage your comments. Please email all comments to ChelseaL@tacomachamber.org

What's Happening with Wayfinding in Downtown?

Come Thursday, July 17th, 5:30pm-6:30pm to Room 248 in the Tacoma Municipal Building (747 Market Street) to find out.

Overtime many incomplete efforts have been made to provide signage directing visitors and residents to important and interesting sites, venues and attractions downtown. These efforts have left downtown with incomplete and mismatched informational signage.

The current wayfinding effort seeks to provide some uniformity and clarity to the existing wayfinding schemes downtown.

Please join us Thursday, July 17th, 5:30pm-6:30pm in Room 248 in the Tacoma Municipal Building (747 Market Street) to learn about and provide input on current wayfinding plans.

City Center Lucheon features Point Ruston, Urban Waters and Tollefson Plaza

The City Center Lucheon is this Friday! RSVP today!

Events and activities are heating up in downtown Tacoma this summer.
The City Center Luncheon,
Friday, July 11th, 11:30 a.m. to 1:10 p.m. at The Tacoma Club,
will showcase ground breaking events and opportunities in downtown Tacoma.

Topics include:

Center for Urban Waters ground breaking
Presenter: Jim Parvey, City of Tacoma
The Center for Urban Waters is a 56,000-square-foot office and laboratory building to be located on the east side of the Thea Foss Waterway. The LEED certified building, which is scheduled to break ground this summer, will house the City's Environmental Services Division labs and offices, University of Washington Tacoma (UWT) research labs, and an office for the Puget Sound Partnership.

Point Ruston development plans and timeline
Presenters: Mike Cohen, MC Construction & JJ McCament, McCament and Rogers
Point Ruston is the Northwest’s newest waterfront neighborhood. Point Ruston is planned as a comprehensive community that will include nearly 1,000 new residences made up of waterfront condominiums, townhomes, and single family homes, a four-star hotel, parks and public art, miles of waterfront walkways and a host of fine restaurants, nightlife, cultural events, and shopping.

Tollefson Plaza plans and programming
Presenter: Joanne Buselmeier, Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber of Commerce
Tollefson Plaza will hold Friday lunchtime concerts and food vendors—just in time to enjoy lunch outdoors in the Northwest summer. More activities and plans are currently in the works.

Showcase Tacoma, a multi-disciplinary arts experience
Presenter: Phedra Redifer, Metro Parks & Amy McBride, City of Tacoma
This 3rd annual event features the exploding local and regional arts scene! Enjoy visual and performing art exhibits and demonstrations, art installations, and performance activities for people of all ages! Friday and Saturday, August 8-9 at Tollefson Plaza in the heart of downtown Tacoma.

The cost of the event is $25 for members pre-paid and $30 for non-members pre-paid; corporate tables are available. To reserve your seat contact Janice at the Chamber, 253.627-2175 or janiceh@tacomachamber.org

June 19th is National Dump the Pump Day

As the price of gas tops $4.30 per gallon Pierce Transit is joining transit agencies around the nation to encourage non-transit users and transit regulars to change their commute for one day and try transit. That means hoping the bus or a train, sharing the ride in a carpool or vanpool, or using human power by cycling or walking.

To encourage participation in National Dump the Pump Day, June 19th, Pierce Transit will be distributing “I dumped the pump” stickers to riders at select transit centers throughout Pierce County between 6:30 and 8 a.m. on the 19th.

Many resources exist for people looking for alternatives to driving.

• www.piercetrips.com is a one-stop site for commuting options and information in Pierce County.
• www.RideshareOnline.com is great statewide resource linking individuals to existing or new carpools and vanpools.
• www.piercetransit.org and Pierce Transit’s Trip Finder http://tripplanner.piercetransit.org will link you to bus routes and timetables throughout Pierce County and the Puget Sound.

Try transit, you just might like it.

The City Plans to Close "A" Street!...What?

No, the City of Tacoma will not be closing all of "A" Street in downtown Tacoma. However, I have heard a number of shocked, confused and concerned comments like this in the past couple weeks. Let me set the record straight.

Misinformed rumors of the "A" Street closure began in mid-May when the City announced plans for the long awaited Prairie Line Trail improvements. The Prairie Line railroad right-of-way, owned by Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF), runs from near South Tacoma Way to the Thea Foss Waterway and bisects the University of Washington Tacoma Campus.

The City has reached a proposed “win-win” agreement with BNSF in which the railroad company will trade the City a 20-foot wide strip of property within the Prairie Line right-of-way in exchange for the closure of the railroad crossing at "A" Street and Dock Street. The acquired land will provide a non-motorized trail link between the Thea Foss, UWT and amenities in downtown Tacoma. Another exciting feature of this proposal is the opportunity for an additional pedestrian bridge linking downtown to the Thea Foss (more details on this to come).

The rail crossing is commonly closed due to flooding and BNSF contends that the curve of the tracks at this location makes the crossing particularly dangerous for vehicles and pedestrians. Furthermore, the agreement states that the "A" Street crossing will not be closed until the new "D" Street overpass project (that provides access to Dock Street) has been operational for 90 days.

A public hearing on the proposal is scheduled for June 17th, 5pm at the Tacoma Municipal Building.