Tacoma Dome Measure Failing

The ballot measure to renovate the Dome appears to have failed with the voters and I had to ask myself, why?  Several friends had asked for my opinion on the measure and I couldn’t readily quantify my thoughts.  The Tacoma dome, at least to me, represents the old pre-revitalization Tacoma.  It was the one reason that folks from outside Tacoma would come here.  It was, and still is, the one thing people often remember when driving through Tacoma on I-5. 

The problem with the proposal sent to the voters and the marketing that accompanied it was that it didn’t seem to readily tell people what was in it for them.  What’s in it for me?  Yes, we’ve been paying for the Dome bond and this proposal was just to effectively renew that bond.  But status quo doesn’t matter if we don’t use the facility and we see nothing in it for us.  New dressing rooms, better seating, and improved restrooms are all fine and good, but I haven’t been to the Dome in more than five years so none of this matters to me.  An informal survey of several friends found that none of them had been to the Tacoma Dome in the last five years.  Most didn’t know how to vote because they, generally speaking, don’t care about the building. 

So the question then becomes, if the Tacoma Dome were to disappear, would any Tacoman notice?  Other than a change in the scenery on my commute, my day/week/month/year wouldn’t change at all.  Yet, I still support the Dome as an anchor for the neighborhood.  For the most part, the Dome and the area around it hasn’t noticeably changed much in the last decade (although Alfred’s Bubble Room is looking pretty good).  Rather than tell us how the revitalized Dome will make things better for the performers, tell us how the revitalized Dome will bring new businesses and local interest to an otherwise dusty neighborhood.

Bring back the bond proposal.  Let’s just change the message and talk about some big picture benefits that move beyond the Tacoma Dome’s walls.  If the message doesn’t change, I suspect the measure will fail again in November if given the chance. 

Some of the proposals supporters talked about the Tacoma Dome as a symbol of our city.  If the symbol of our city is located in an area surrounded by low income motels, a park-n-ride, and warehouses, it’s no wonder people have a hard time realizing Tacoma. 

Link: Dome makeover falling far short – The News Tribune

From a few months ago:  Top 10 reasons you should fund a Dome rehab – The News Tribune