Seattle Kicks the Tires on the Seattle Center Again

Knute Berger reports that a sign of Seattle's ongoing boom is a new plan to refresh the Seattle Center—the grounds and property home to the Space Needle, among other attractions.

According to Berger, refreshing the Seattle Center is a perpetual idea for planners in Seattle. The most recent refresh was proposed in 2008, but Gerger remembers seeing pitches for the area going back to 1950—12 years before "Seattle World’s Fair that transformed it."

According to Berger, the Seattle Center is now at the center of a cycle of growth and surrounded by upzonings and development investments on all sides. Inevitably, talk of redevelopment has resurfaced:

Mayor Ed Murray appointed Deputy Mayor Kate Joncas, formerly of the Downtown Seattle Association, to look to the future of the Center campus and to explore the possibilities of creating a new grand vision. There has been talk of locating a high school at the Memorial Stadium site. Open-space advocates have long wanted that land for more open space, but it is owned by Seattle Public Schools, which has been reluctant to let it go.

Berger includes a few recommendations for considerations that should be on the table as the Seattle Center redevelopment moves forward. There's also a point to be made about one fairly conspicuous consideration: "The Center’s top attraction, the Space Needle, is also in the feasibility stage of a major upgrade, which would include better access to the top (via dual elevators on two sides), decluttered views (replacing the wire cage around the Observation Deck with glass) and interior changes to the restaurant level, such as installing a glass floor."