PUBLISHED ON April 1, 2008
Yakima Herald-Republic
Section: Opinion/Editorials
A million here and a million there, and pretty soon we're talking about serious money to pay for new looks in downtown Yakima. Two projects will be instrumental in making it a destination point of the future. * Last week, the Yakima City Council unanimously agreed to set in motion the closing of Third Street in front of the Capitol Theatre for a pedestrian plaza. It will be an integral part of a major $15 million expansion of the historic theater that will make it an even bigger draw for everything from local shows and concerts to traveling Broadway productions.
* The city is also putting the finishing touches on a $700,000 plan to enhance soon-to-be-built twin railroad underpasses on Lincoln Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard with colorful art work. Dubbed "Yakima Illuminations: Bins of Light," the display will feature dozens of brightly lit glass panels made to the scale of apple bins. That's a fitting tribute, given the proximity of the underpasses to "Fruit Row," long a hub of the industry in our region.
What's to particularly like about both projects is the visionary effort to bring new life and looks to the downtown area.
The Capitol project features a new staging facility at the rear of the theater and demolition of the 1902 Wilson Building, which the theater bought last year and plans to replace with a new multipurpose pavilion. Located at the southeast corner of Yakima Avenue and Third Street, the Wilson is one of the oldest buildings in downtown Yakima. But rather than push plans to arbitrarily bring it down, exploratory efforts led to the conclusion the building is of little historic value and is in such poor condition that it can't be reasonably salvaged.
This is one building that shouldn't be saved just because it is old, especially given the alternative of the development of new venues that will be very helpful in attracting people downtown.
While the underpasses are down the way a bit, they will still be important, free-flowing arterials in and out of the downtown area.
Two things should be kept in mind as the $42 million underpass projects, which include $700,000 for artwork, move ahead:
* The artwork expenditure, while not mandatory, was originally pushed in 2001 by a citizens advisory group that included both city officials and citizens, according to Bill Cook, director of the city's Community and Economic Development department. That led the City Council to appoint an ad hoc committee last fall, led by former Allied Arts director Elizabeth Miller, to come back with proposals. The light show - the panels change color with the changing of natural light - was the pick and will be a different look that most likely will become a signature for Yakima. That in itself is a good tourist draw.
The $700,000 represents 1.7 percent of the overall $42 million budget and promises to be a good investment in community aesthetics.
* The $42 million for the underpasses is a mix of federal and state grants along with more modest contributions from the city and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway. The money is earmarked solely for the underpasses. If they are not built, the money can't be spent fixing potholes on 16th Avenue or on any other street projects.
Taken together, the two developments are important elements in the ongoing effort to revitalize a downtown area that has been searching for a new identity since the demise of the dominant Yakima Mall in 2003.
We do like the direction in which things are headed.
* Members of the Yakima Herald-Republic editorial board are Michael Shepard, Sarah Jenkins and Bill Lee.
Two projects designed to add to downtown's new life, look.
