A Dome District Megaplex?
On Saturday night we found ourselves at the Harvest Feast at Terry’s Berries. In the middle of our fine evening conversation, someone asked me, “Have you heard anything about a megaplex movie theater in downtown Tacoma?” “Not recently,” I responded.
Then, I wake up the next morning to a Dan Voelpel column about a megaplex beneath the Lemay complex in the Dome District. Is it on its way? Are we getting a 16-screen theater? Is massive investment on its way? Not quite yet, it seems. But a movie theater could make a nice anchor tenant for the Dome … Too bad it isn’t so simple:
In response, the city’s Community and Economic Development Department convened Dome District stakeholders to review old plans for what should happen in the city’s gateway district and gauge support for a massive redevelopment worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
That group’s review and recommendations should come before the City Council in late October. The council’s decision to pursue anything isn’t as simple as voting yes or no, however.
Any project likely would require a significant city investment, probably through the sale of revenue bonds, to construct the necessary parking garages. Revenue made from parking fees would pay off the bonds. Partnering with Sound Transit and Pierce Transit, which will need additional stalls in the district for the opening of commuter rail to Lakewood, would spread the cost around.
This is going to take some work. Do we have the vision yet?
Link to The News Tribune
Filed under: The-Politics-of-Development
11 comments
D Douglas Tooley September 15, 2008
Charging for parking merely for the sake of generating revenue strikes me as counter-productive, though I could, very definitely, be wrong.
My opinion, untested, would be that it is best to let the demand for parking determine when to charge for it.
I did guest at one of Marty Campbell’s parking committee meetings (for downtown meters) and according to their experts the crucial number is, at all times, 15 per cent of the spots open. Variable parking rates are the way to do that.
I do think that there is a role for public finacing of transit garages, perhaps with housing above, as well as multi-plexes. Making use of them for off-commute uses – whether it be residential or commercial is just plain smart.
The devil is in the details, but, one thing for sure, it is possible to make it work, and get past the corporate welfare scams that have given us recently the worst of both the public and private worlds rather than the best.
A Andrew September 15, 2008
Why would more parking garages need to be built when we’ve already got the huge Sound Transit one down there?
T Thorax O'Tool September 15, 2008
For the love of god, why are we letting parking be such a huge-ass deal?
I mean, the parking requirements in town are a major part of why downtown just isn’t flourishing like it ought to.
I say build one nice garage and be done with it, whether there is enough parking or not. If there is something really worth doing down by the dome, the several bus routes and light rail and Sounder would suddenly become somewhat more useful.
J Jesse September 16, 2008
A true testament to streetcars.
Without the Tacoma Link Rail between the new condos/downtown and the T-Dome, do you really think they’d be even considering a cinema near that location? Probably not.
Plan more streetcars.
J Jake September 16, 2008
I hear the Dome parking garages are full during the weekdays so they are planning more. I bet the developer that bought the matress factory property is working with the city on a parking deal because I have’t heard anything in awhile about the apartments/condos that were to go in there.
Also I personally don’t think it would matter if the light rail was there or not when considering a theater at the Tacoma Dome / LeMay location. It is next to I-5 with good visibility and access (think about the Lakewood Cinemas). Sure the light rail is a plus but probably not a huge factor.
D drizell September 16, 2008
Good point about the garages being full on weekdays, Jake. However, when I visit Tacoma on weekdays, I’ve never had trouble finding a spot relatively close to the bottom. Also, how many people actually go to movies on weekdays? Maybe some go on weekNIGHTS, when the garages aren’t full of commuters’ cars, but most theatergoers go to movies on Friday and Saturday nights. The only instance where I could foresee trouble finding parking is when there are movies and events at the Dome going on at the same time.
A altered chords September 16, 2008
I don’t know Drizell. What with the mecca being condo’s now, there is probably a decent market for daytime movies. Might need to adjust the type of movies they show.
S Sir_Moustache September 16, 2008
Phwew, for a second I thought there wasn’t going to be any parking garages. Where would I park my h2?
T Tacoma Taxpayer September 17, 2008
Well, now a movie theatre complex underneath the LeMay? Interesting.
The parking garage idea has already been tossed around because of the parking that is going to be lost to the Lemay building.
The taxpayers are gonna have to cough some BIG bucks for garage too, more than what the TDome cost to build!
I’ve been down the ST Garage during the day and seen it full too.
NO to streetcars, we have infrastructure that needs fixing FIRST
T Tacoma Taxpayer September 18, 2008
I just hope the City doesn’t hire another “consultant” to tell us if a theatre in the Dome district would work.
Y You're Welcome September 18, 2008
Wow! Parking garages; downtown movie theaters; paying money to park downtown… We’re actually starting to sound like a thriving city.
Who knew?