Opinion | A Tri-Cities performing arts center complex? The what, why, how and where of it

For years people in the Tri-Cities have recognized the need for a performing arts center.

What do you think it should be? The Tri-Cities Arts Center Task Force feels that it should be an 800-seat playhouse to serve the needs of the local performing arts organizations they represent. These organizations include the Mid-Columbia Master Singers, the Mid-Columbia Symphony, the Mid-Columbia Ballet, and the Mid-Columbia Musical Theatre.

In the other hand, some would like to see a large seating capacity performing arts center, such as the Spokane Opera House or the Capital Theater in Yakima, where you would have a quality fixed seat facility to view not only performances by local arts groups, but national traveling shows as well.

Why not combine the two needs into one performing arts center complex? The vision of the facility would have a large auditorium, say 1500-plus seats combined with a smaller auditorium that has seating of 500-plus, plus other amenities such as a gift shop/arts gallery, and a café.

Such a facility will serve the needs of all stakeholders and will likely gain the greatest amount of public support, especially at the ballot box.

When you look at funding options for any kind of performing arts center facility, you soon realize that it’s unlikely to be funded solely from private funds. The most likely public funding source will be a sales tax that the city public facilities districts (PFD) can levy, subject to voter approval. For the scope of facility that is contemplated, you need the sales tax from two or more city PFDs, say the PFDs in Kennewick and Richland since Pasco has fully committed their voter approved sales tax to building an aquatics center.

However, if the Arts Center Task Force has its way, the Richland PFD would use their voter approved sales tax to build their 800-seat playhouse. This would negate the possibility of funding the more comprehensive facility.

It’s unfortunate that our local governments and PFDs are stove piped in their perspective. They have other projects that they consider to be of higher priority and want to concentrate their efforts on them.

The funding source for these other projects is not the PFD sales tax. The cities and the city PFDs are perfectly capable of multi-tasking. They do it every day. They have had the sales tax option available for many years. However, because local agencies, including the Arts Center Task Force, are so stove piped, you find that they aren’t talking to one another.

Is this the way to serve the needs of the public? No.

Perhaps these local agencies are concerned about where a facility will be located. I say that it is more important to have a facility in the Tri-Cities than where it might get located.

One way to ‘compromise’ is to let voters decide via an advisory ballot run at the same time as the sales tax measure. Each city/city PFD would put forth a proposed site and let voters decide which they prefer. The best site may not be on publicly owned land. For example, the Pasco PFD is buying land in west Pasco to build their aquatics center.

I’m sure there are other issues that need to be resolved, but they can only be resolved if all the stakeholders are a party to the conversation about planning and executing the project.

To accomplish this project requires community involvement, particularly a core group of citizens forming a political action committee that can work with local governments and the Arts Center Task Force to develop the details of the project and also be able to promote a sales tax measure.

This project can be accomplished if people want to see it happen. Citizen apathy keeps the status quo. I urge you to get involved, urge the Kennewick and Richland City Councils, and their respective PFD Boards, to take the lead on having a community conversation about getting a performing arts center complex in the Tri-Cities.

Vic Epperly worked 32 years as a facilities engineer for Battelle. He served on the Kennewick City Council for 61/2 years and was mayor of Kennewick in 1986-87.