More Activity For the Foss
The News Tribune is reporting that Governor Gregoire will be in Tacoma tomorrow to announce that the Puget Sound Partnership will be headquartered at the Urban Waters facility on the East Side of the Foss waterway.
Maybe this would explain what Mayor Baarsma said in the Neighborhoods meeting the other day… “Urban Waters could be a very large operation… but I can’t say anything more about that right now.” Or is there more in the works?
The Puget Sound Partnership (which we could call PSP if it didn’t lead to massive confusion) would likely bring 32 jobs to town and help build the prestige of Urban Waters as a world-class marine research institutions. Urban Waters has already received support from the Port, UWT, and the City.
Link to the Tribune
Previous Foss Waterway news on Exit133
Foss Hotel
Children’s Museum
Filed under: Waterfront, Developments, Foss Waterway, Foss Waterfront
12 comments
R rock rabbit January 22, 2008
Amen!!
S sparkrobot January 22, 2008
Nonsense. You’ll eat metal and like it.
M Mofo from the Hood January 22, 2008
“I’d love to change the world, but I don’t what to do…”
—-Alvin Lee & Ten Years After
S sassy mcbutterpants January 22, 2008
I see your point. Personally, my music needs are being met by the current venues, but I’m not very hip.
Weight of The World kicked butt at Hells Kitchen last week and didn’t even come close to melting my face off btw…
D Daniel Blue January 22, 2008
Your needs are being met, but what about the musicians? I saw Paris Spleen dividing up their share of the door on Saturday and they each took $11 a piece.
S sassy mcbutterpants January 22, 2008
You’re right. Sometimes I forget they aren’t up there rocking out for their health. They’ve got to eat.
A Andrew January 22, 2008
Daniel @5:
So what are you getting at there? That not enough people are going out to live shows?
D dni January 22, 2008
Amen and more!
D Daniel Blue January 23, 2008
Andrew @ 7:
My point is that there has yet to be a venue that takes advantage of a special quality we Tacomites were blessed with: the ability (under the right circumstances) to intermingle among affinity groups.
if there were a venue that catered to several ages/wants/needs simultaneously, there would be more money coming in at the door per show, that also means more merch is sold and more meat goes on dem skinny rocker bones.
sassy @ 6: thats the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.
thanks.
W wes January 25, 2008
is tacoma ready for a venue?
the attendance at the air show awhile back wasn’t too strong.
and there are restrictions on live acts playing in tacoma if they’re scheduled to play seattle that make running a venue a bit tricky.
for a venue to be successful, at least one with a similar capacity to the showbox, there’d have to be a lot more big name bands willing to play tacoma rather than seattle. with the turnout/sales history here i think most bands would choose the alternative.
the creative culture is sprouting here though, so maybe soon there’ll be good reason for bands to choose destiny over seattle…
a venue would be a dream but this city is still in its growth stage. give it some time…
there is a venue in construction that will be pulling in some talented touring acts and provide a positive alternative to other venues. i hope this will pave the way to growth in the local music scene and tacoma being able to support bigger national acts.
i look forward to the day I don’t have to drive to seattle to see my favorite bands playing with my favorite local musicians…
in the mean time, if you want more music in tacoma, get out and support the bands that are already playing to keep the dream alive. we’re blessed with some incredibly talented musicians in this town… show them some love.
E Erik S January 25, 2008
I think that it would be unwise to attempt something on the scale of the Showbox. Those acts will probably continue to play at… the Showbox. Something on the scale of the Crocodile (RIP) or even the Sunset, but with more variety and, ideally, a little more pull than Hell’s Kitchen.
A modest (not tiny) size would help keep the overhead down and would help target regional bands while still allowing mid-level acts to stop in if they have a west coast tour or something. I know that at least some bands have been able to play both Seattle and Tacoma in consecutive nights. Peelander Z comes to mind as an example. I think that clubs like the Funhouse, Jules Maes, and the Sunset are less likely to insist on exclusivity than a joint like the Showbox.
Something in the general downtown area would be nice, if the city would allow it. That would at least provide the option of going to a show by bus. Actually, most of the buses stop running to early for the return trip (@#%$!) but bus to/cab from would be a nice option for the responsible boozers.
A friend of mine worked the doors at a small Seattle club in the dark ages of the mid/late-80s. They had a policy of free admission for the members of bands that played the club (on the nights they weren’t playing) with the idea of getting people in and establishing a little bit of a gathering place for musicians. That might be worth looking into, but I don’t have any experience running a bar so that might be worth looking into.
I know that there are bands filling the chasm between low-key singer-songwriter and metal acts like Doomlords of Gwangzor and Enslayne Corpse, but confess that it’s kind of hard for me to tell what’s happening at Hell’s Kitchen most nights. I will admit my fault in this. I should be paying more attention to the Volcano (do they ever have a “music issue”?) or something to try to get a feel for some of these acts. I’ve heard good things about the F*cking Eagles and Lund Bros. There must be other acts in town that I would enjoy. I’ll try to do better.
I don’t expect the Shins to play Tacoma but it seems ridiculous to me that bands like the Tripwires, the Trashies or the Young Sportsmen don’t play here more often. What about groups from Portland?
A Andrew January 25, 2008
Wes:
The Air show was a little tricky, and I think illustrated two key obstacles that Tacoma faces:
1) While we in Tacoma accept that we have to go to Seattle to see many shows, those in Seattle probably hate the idea of going to see a show in Tacoma.
2) The Air show was PRICEY. 40 dollar tickets don’t fly here in Tacoma (unless you’re a rich middle-age white person that just HAS to have some smooth jazz on the weekends. In that case, come on down to Jazzbones). I mean, I like Air, but there’s no way I would’ve gone to that show if my friend hadn’t given me one of his free tickets.