Children's Museum Backing Away from Foss Site
We’d been hearing the rumors all day, but were waiting for official word… Now, the TNT is reporting that the Children’s Museum is backing away from plans to relocate to a controversial site on the Thea Foss.
This has been no fun at all.
Link to The News Tribune
Previously on Exit133
Filed under: Waterfront, Developments, Foss Waterway, Foss Waterfront
19 comments
J Jenyum March 4, 2008
It’s too bad the conversation broke down so acrimoniously.
I just emailed them to suggest the David’s on Broadway/Winfield’s space. I think it could be creatively re-used.
E E March 4, 2008
If it don’t fit don’t force it, Just relax and let it go!
T Tad March 5, 2008
great, so now we have a plot of land set aside for a small group of privileged boaters and not a space that children, families and boaters can enjoy.
the more the foss becomes developed, the less accessible it becomes to the average citizen. now that’s smart city planning. /sarcasm.
C Claudia Riedener March 5, 2008
TAD
Keeping the land as open space will allow ALL to use the site. Children, families and boaters all will have access, that’s the covenant. Giving the site over to a museum would have excluded the general public from enjoying the entire site.
T Tad March 5, 2008
i hardly think including a facility dedicated to families would have prevented the general public from enjoying the site. rather, it would have enhanced its diversity rather than hinder it. the tacoma nature center at snake lake hardly prevents hikers, runners, birders, etc. from enjoying the park simply because there is structure on the property that is dedicated to children and families.
the term ‘general public’ implies a diversity of people. i fail to see how dedicating this site to a small percentage of our population (boaters) equates to a park that the general public will flock to use.
K Ken March 5, 2008
Wow! Conversations I was privy to involved the blending of park space, boating and the museum space – albeit that was early on. “Open space” adjacent to the overpass will hardly be a delight for the casual user. This is about using the space for what makes sense. In my opinion, a Children’s Museum there is a year-round opportunity for kids, families and all walks of life to enjoy and utilize the location. Architechts and designers are good at finding ways to combine uses – too bad a narrow interest group was successful in killing an idea that would really benefit a very broad audience and be beneficial to early learning to boot. Children are simply not represented well downtown or on the Foss at this time. This is truly a missed opportunity.
G gritcitygirl March 5, 2008
boaters are hardly a tiny minority and considering tacoma’s lack of access to its waterfront for small boats i’m shocked at how negative folks are being. what the children’s museum wanted to do wasn’t even totally legal… the property was bought with conservation money and the legality of transferring conservation futures was heavily questioned. how does an open space park, education center and boathouse equate with cutting off the property from the general public? i for one am pleased that there will a space on the foss waterway NOT developed.
also, not everyone has kids. i would have never gone there if it was a children’s museum but would love to spend time sitting in the grass, watching children play and boaters go in and out of the water.
i look forward to seeing other site possibilities for an expanded children’s museum. i think a larger facility will be a great asset to downtown.
C Claudia Riedener March 5, 2008
The children’s museum is NOT water dependent. They wanted the site mainly for parking, stated clearly many times as their number one priority.I am happy they have withdrawn their idea. The land has legal restrictions because conservation money bought it.
The covenant is available from the FWDA. I recommend reading it if you are confused.
J Jon March 5, 2008
Per Tad’s comment #3, I hardly think these group of boaters are “privileged.” These are boaters that pay marginal club fees for the chance to be on the water. If you want to see a privileged boater, take a walk down the esplanade and look at all the $500K to $1 Million dollar yachts. Now that’s what I call a privileged boater.
Additionally, I totally disagree with his comment on accessibility. The more developed the Foss is, the more accessible it is the the average citizen. Think of what the Foss was in the past.
As for Ken, the human powered boaters are no more narrow of an interest group the the Children’s Museum.
S Steph March 5, 2008
re: gritcitygirl-you shouldn’t be surprised that this conversation is negative. it has been acrimonious for quite some time. only time (probably a very loooong time) will tell how many boaters there are in this community and what impact they will have on that site.
R RR Anderson March 6, 2008
children are dumb enough. Why do we want to confuse them even more with their own museum? Just take them to WSHM, it would be cheaper and just as ridiculous.
T Tad March 6, 2008
and yet, none of you people here who are getting what you want out of this deal have even bothered to THANK the museum for backing away from this site; nor have any of you acknowledged that you are getting what you want out of this deal! i think it’s sad that CMT is backing away from this site because reserving the park for boaters is not only reserving it to small group of people, but a group who in getting what they want, don’t even appear gracious for it.
C Courtenay March 6, 2008
Claudia: Contrary to your belief, the Children’s Museum of Tacoma did not “want the site mainly for parking.” In fact, the main attraction to the site was the available green space for young children and families to explore.
Perhaps a better understanding of the Museum’s vision and their site selection criteria is in order. They’ve had it clearly outlined on their website for months: www.childrensmuseumoftacoma.org/capital-campaign-faqs.
Hopefully reviewing this will shed some light on just what the Museum believes it takes to create a spectacular, playful learning environment for our youngest citizens and those who care for and about them.
Let’s move on from this discussion and help them find a new home in Tacoma that meets both their needs and the needs of our community.
J Jenyum March 6, 2008
It’s rough. I was looking at that criteria and feeling sad all over again about the Foss. I can’t think of anywhere else IN downtown that has so much green space.
CMT really wants to be downtown, and I think that’s pretty awesome given the challenges this poses for them. For a lot of families, the Children’s Museum of Tacoma is their first look at our city and our downtown. I hope a great spot can be found.
T Tiffany March 6, 2008
From what I heard at the last Waterway Park meeting it appeared that the boaters actually wanted more parking than the Museum peeps (50-80 spaces – vs – 40 spaces). If we want this to be an active, vibrant park for children, families, and our community, parking will be a priority.
B beerBoy March 6, 2008
Cool! This will be a great place for homeless to crash! Much better than if the Children’s Museum was there making sure that families felt safe bringing their children there!
S Sassy McButterpants March 6, 2008
Between my barren womb and my fear of water I have totally not been following this. Is it over now?
D DavidS March 6, 2008
I hear there’s a great municipal dock site just north of the Murray Morgan bridge. The City even owns that site and doesn’t need conservation futures funding. With the increased height limits, sliding a children’s museum into the ground floor shouldn’t be too much trouble. Right?
S Squid March 6, 2008
Sassy: technically, yes, it is over. However, this being Tacoma, the bitterness and recriminations will go on for months/years. In this town, revenge is a dish always served cold.